Modifiable risk factor profiles moderate the effect of β-amyloid pathology on cognition in aging

Although modifiable risk factors may account for around 40 % of population variability in dementia risk, the effect of risk factor interrelationships on pathology-cognition relationships is poorly understood. Using risk factor data from a cohort of 203 cognitively normal older adults (73 ± 6.4 years, 56 % female), we used k-means clustering to assign participants to one of three risk-related profiles; namely, positive-active (physical/cognitive activity, education), positive-affective (sleep, depression, personality), and negative multi-domain clusters. Linear mixed-effects models showed an attenuated effect of β-amyloid on non-memory cognition decline in positive profiles (positive-active: β=3.7, p = 0.008, positive-affective: β=3.7, p = 0.007) compared to the negative profile. While a significant entorhinal tau x time effect (p < 0.001) was observed in a model predicting episodic memory decline, cluster membership did not modify this relationship. These findings suggest that different risk profiles moderate pathology-cognition relationships, and highlight the role of groups of modifiable resilience factors in mitigating the effects of β-amyloid deposition.