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White matter correlates of scam susceptibility in community-dwelling older adults

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Abstract

Scam susceptibility places older adults – even those with intact cognition – at great risk. Lower grey matter volumes, particularly within right medial temporal regions, are associated with higher scam susceptibility; however, very little is known about white matter associates. We investigated associations between white matter integrity measured using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and scam susceptibility in 302 non-demented older adults (75% female; mean years: age = 81.3 + 7.5, education = 15.7 + 2.9). Participants completed comprehensive neuroimaging (including DTI, T1- and T2-weighted imaging), a self-report measure of scam susceptibility, and neuropsychological testing. Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS) investigated associations of DTI-derived measures of fractional anisotropy (FA), trace of the diffusion tensor, axial and radial diffusivity (separately) with scam susceptibility adjusting for age, sex, education, and white matter hyperintensities (WMH; total volume and voxelwise separately). Statistical significance was determined at p < 0.05, Family Wise Error corrected. TBSS revealed significant negative associations between FA in tracts connecting a number of right hemisphere white matter regions and scam susceptibility, particularly after additional adjustment for global cognitive functioning. The pathways implicated were mainly in right temporal-parietal and temporal-occipital regions. Association of trace, axial, and radial diffusivity with scam susceptibility were not significant in fully-adjusted models. Lower white matter integrity within right hemisphere tracts was associated with higher scam susceptibility independent of relevant confounds including global cognition. Thus, a right hemisphere brain network that includes key structures implicated in multi-sensory processing of immediate and future consequences may serve as a neurobiologic substrate of scam susceptibility in vulnerable older adults.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the participants in the Rush Memory and Aging Project and the staff of the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center. More information regarding obtaining data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project for research use can be found at the RADC Research Resource Sharing Hub (www.radc.rush.edu).

Funding

The study was supported by National Institute on Aging (grant number R01AG17917, R01AG34374, R01AG33678, R01AG055430, and R01AG052200).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, 1750 W Harrison Street, Suite 1000, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Melissa Lamar, Konstantinos Arfanakis, Lei Yu, Shengwei Zhang, S. Duke Han, Debra A. Fleischman, David A. Bennett & Patricia A. Boyle

  2. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, 1645 W Jackson Blvd, Suite 400, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Melissa Lamar, S. Duke Han, Debra A. Fleischman & Patricia A. Boyle

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, 3255 South Dearborn Street Wishnick Hall, Suite 314, Chicago, IL, 60616, USA

    Konstantinos Arfanakis

  4. Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, 1653 W Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Konstantinos Arfanakis

  5. Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, 1653 W Congress Parkway, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Lei Yu, S. Duke Han, Debra A. Fleischman & David A. Bennett

  6. Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, CA, 91803, USA

    S. Duke Han

  7. Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA

    S. Duke Han

  8. Department of Psychology, USC, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA

    S. Duke Han

  9. School of Gerontology, USC, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, USA

    S. Duke Han

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  1. Melissa Lamar
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Correspondence to Melissa Lamar.

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Lamar, M., Arfanakis, K., Yu, L. et al. White matter correlates of scam susceptibility in community-dwelling older adults. Brain Imaging and Behavior 14, 1521–1530 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-019-00079-7

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