Abstract | December 20, 2022
Anxiety and Dementia: Does Anxiety Play a Role in the Risk of Dementia?
Learning Objectives
- Discuss the impact of an anxiety disorder on cognitive functioning.
- Describe the role of anxiety in the development of dementia.
Background: Dementia is a group of cognitive symptoms. Dementia presents with memory defects, language impairment, difficulty problem-solving, and decline in other daily cognitive functions. There are many types of dementia with different underlying pathologies. Emerging research points to a multitude of risk factors that increase one’s risk of dementia with aging. One such risk factor is having an anxiety disorder. This literature review explores the correlation between anxiety disorders, and the onset and development of dementia.
Methods: A literature review regarding the effects of anxiety on the development and progression of dementia was conducted. Eligible articles for the study included primary journal articles, and meta-analysis published between the years of 2000-2022. Literature search was conducted on various research databases (PubMed, Google Scholar) using key search terms such as “anxiety”, “dementia”, “anxiety and dementia”.
Results: The presence of an anxiety disorder has been noted to increase the risk of dementia. Anxiety in later life is associated with worse cognitive functioning and frequently co-occurs with dementia. Anxiety-related changes in the brain regions (hippocampus, orbitofrontal, medial frontal, and anterior cingulate cortex), and alterations in their functions are associated with cognitive symptoms. Early changes in attention, error-processing, and memory formation have been noted in anxious individuals with a subsequent dementia diagnosis. The correlation between anxiety and dementia is potentially mediated by multiple factors, including cortisol-mediated changes to the gray matter and hippocampal volume, anxiety-induced inflammation, and cellular stress to neuronal cells, as well as genetic risk factors that may increase one’s susceptibility to both conditions. Interestingly, in one of the Alzheimer’s diseases (AD) studies, of the AD patients, 32.3% had a history of anxiety disorder. The influence of the serotonergic system on cognition and memory shows that alterations to the system is also implicated in both anxiety and dementia.
Conclusions: Anxiety disorder has been shown by multiple studies to play an important role in the development of dementia. Early intervention of anxiety disorders can potentially mitigate or delay the onset and progression of dementia. However, a better understanding of current pharmacological interventions for anxiety disorders and their effects on the pathologies of dementia is necessary.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4390420/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3828456/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6675335/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4736204/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304394019302149
