Personality and Cognitive Health in Aging

Because the risk for cognitive pathologies such as Alzheimer’s Disease increases with advancing age, there is a critical interest in understanding the pathways that promote healthy cognitive aging. In this chapter, we review an increasingly growing set of literatures highlighting the importance of personality traits in shaping trajectories of cognitive health over the adult lifespan. We consider the evidence for differential relationships between personality and a number of cognitive domains (e.g., episodic memory, executive function) and explore the role of specific personality traits as protective factors and risk factors for cognitive change in aging. We chart the pathways (e.g., activity engagement, health behaviors) through which personality impacts cognition and consider the evidence for personality as a critical factor in understanding risk for pathological cognitive impairment in older adulthood.