Robert Wilson of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and his colleagues did this study by analyzing the health data of 1,000 Catholic nuns, priests and brothers since 1994. The study appeared in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

They defined conscientiousness in the study as people who control their impulses and are goal directed. Those who exhibit this behavior are considered dependable. They ranked the volunteers on a five point scale based on their answers to 12 questions. An example of one of these questions was, “I am a productive person who always gets the job done”. The five point scale had scores ranging from 0 to 48 with the average being 34. Based on the cumulative score a person was considered conscientious or not conscientious.

Besides these tests, they were given various medical and neurological exams, including cognitive testing. None of the volunteers chosen had any Alzheimer’s at the beginning of the tests.

All the above tests were done each year as a follow up through 2006. A total of 176 people developed Alzheimer’s disease during this study period.

People who were highly conscientious — those in the 90th percentile with scores of 40 or higher, had an 89 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease than those who ranked in the 10th percentile, with a score of 28 or lower.

The researchers also found that there was a correlation between conscientiousness and slower rate of cognitive decline and also a correlation between conscientiousness and a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment. Both cognitive decline and cognitive impairment poses a high risk for Alzheimer’s.

The researchers are not sure why conscientious people are less prone to Alzheimer’s. Wilson and his colleagues suggested it may be because conscientious people tend to be more resilient.

It is interesting study but I think it maybe true, in Yoga they always talk about mind and body connection, if the mind is healthy, the body is healthy and vice versa. I read a few books, Light on Life: The Yoga Journey to Wholeness, Inner Peace, and Ultimate Freedom and Perfect Health: The Complete Mind/Body Guide, Revised and Updated Edition by Deepak Chopra, they talk about this connection.

You can get both these books at the library also.

Do you believe this theory that conscientious people are less prone to Alzheimer’s?