Personality, memory, hearing loss, heredity. Is there a connection?
My 83-year-old mother called me 3 times in a row the other day, each time to ask me for the phone number of her hairdresser of 40+ years. Each time, more frustrated because she couldn’t find where she wrote it down, had trouble writing it down, couldn’t find it again. Finally, exasperated, she asked me to please make the call to cancel her hair appointment.
Again.
A few days later, Cool Cousin and I had the rare opportunity to attend a family lunch gathering that included 3 of my mother’s sisters. We collectively and affectionately call them "The Aunts." The youngest is 80, the eldest, 95. The Johnson Girls (pictured here), classic products of the 1950’s and 60’s, have always considered themselves to be smart and beautiful (which is true). Some seemed to value one over the other, but they weren't asked to choose.
Here's what I notice as I look around the room. (A little sidebar.) The glamorous one who prizes beauty (and is also smart) is still coloring her hair, wearing dry cleaned/pressed clothes, and sporting wedge heels. The former career girl who appreciates intelligence (and is also beautiful) confidently defends “facts” and is boasting about all the books she has read. The adventurous one who aspired to both beauty and brains is the healthiest physically and mentally, constantly researching how to feel better, eat better, live better. She is also the most social. And looks amazing.
Almost everyone at this occasion is hard of hearing...some with hearing aids, some without. So conversation is loud, loving, and spirited at times...peppered with eyerolls, pushed buttons, laughter, and the language of sisterly bonds that only sisters can comprehend. Everyone talking over each other, mostly because they can’t tell a conversation is already happening. Everyone trying to find a serving spoon or get something out of the oven or pour tea in the hostess's tiny kitchen at the same time...or retelling the same stories at the same time. Cool Cousin and I answer the same questions a few times.
It was fabulously precious.
Are We Becoming Our Mothers?
My mom (aka Aunt Carol) has always considered herself (plus her sisters, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren) to be equal parts beautiful and smart. Also charming, funny, and accomplished. Of course, our family is perfect (her version).;)
She did not attend because of the challenges presented by travel and health. So I'm not nearly as perfect in the moment I deliver the loving sentiments and well wishes offered in her absence by her family...she’s now mad at me. Her tone changes. “Oh...I didn’t know I could have gone to the lunch." Like she was just hearing about it for the first time. We had discussed getting her there several times, and she opted out twice.
This is becoming a pattern. A gentle reminder for recall of something previously discussed (like an upcoming plan) or mundanely transactional (like an appointment), can trigger a response of “everyone is always talking to me like I’m not smart.” Which is actually not what anyone thinks at all. Yet this is how we know intelligence is still as important to her identity as coordinating the right earrings with the right top.
This series of scenarios got me thinking. How does the brain translate, transfer, transpose our personalities, preferences, and priorities as we age? Do we become more or less of our true selves? What can be attributed to nature vs. nurture (aka, genetics vs. environment/life choices)?
Observing our shared gene pool that memorable day, Cool Cousin and I ultimately asked each other...is this our future?
Maybe. Or maybe not.
Personality Plus
I’m a student of personality assessment tools. More like a Fan Girl. My favorite is the Enneagram…the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow of Myers-Briggs, DiSC, Strength Finders, the quiz in Seventeen Magazine in 11th grade, etc. etc. Time and tradition and test results have repeatedly relayed that our basic personalities do not change. We simply develop certain inherent traits over time, over others.
Recent research on personality and aging begs to differ.
A 2023 article by Faith Hill in The Atlantic entitled "The Curious Personality Changes of Older Age" states that at any age, life events can affect people differently. But researchers say older adults' daily realities vary wildly, so factors like health and social support can be better predictors of personality change. “What you really want to know,” said Wiebke Bleidorn, a personality psychologist at the University of Zurich, “is What are people’s lives like?” If someone is no longer strong enough to go to dinner parties every week, they might grow less extroverted; if someone needs to be more careful of physical dangers like falling, it makes sense that they could potentially grow more neurotic.
Other research is discovering that the brain itself actually changes.
Mind Over Memory
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) says forgetfulness can be a normal part of aging. However, dementia is not a normal part of aging. Dementia includes the loss of cognitive functioning (thinking, remembering, learning, and reasoning) and behavior to the extent that it interferes with a person’s quality of life and activities. And memory loss is not the only sign of dementia. People with dementia may also have problems with language skills, visual perception, or paying attention. Some people experience personality changes.
Although my mother does not have Alzheimer's, nor do any of her siblings, random symptoms of dementia are gradually becoming more evident and her personality does seem to be changing. She used to prioritize her hair appointment at all costs.
Ironically, the symptoms of Parkinson’s mimic Lewy Body dementia and vice versa, making them often indistinguishable (or at least harder to pinpoint). They can also co-exist, and Mom's Mayo doc tells us she has both. Neither has been deemed hereditary...however, lifestyle and environment are recognized as big contributors. Like many diseases and conditions, lifestyle and environment can also impact prevention.
Brain Buster
It's easy to grasp why the brain is the most complex organ in the body. It manages systemic functions in addition to memories, thinking, speaking, and behavior. Different lobes of the brain are responsible for different tasks, and frequently the lobes must work together to accomplish certain tasks as simple as using a fork.
Dementia in Alzheimer's patients has been linked to shrinkage and damage in various lobes of the brain, beginning most often with the hippocampus...the lobe associated with memory and the connecting of memory to emotion. Other symptoms depend on which lobe is damaged. Dementia can also be brought on by a stroke.
According to the Alzheimer's Society's web site, the brain of a person with Lewy Body Dementia often shows less overall shrinkage than the brain of someone with Alzheimer's. Instead, tiny deposits of protein (Lewy bodies) are seen in the cerebral cortex, limbic system and brain stem. Various studies have indicated signs of early damage is seen in the visual pathways and the frontal lobes, possibly explaining why problems with vision and attention are fairly common. Similarly, Lewy bodies in the brain stem may be linked to the problems with movement, as similarly seen in Parkinson's.
This information is "cold comfort"...intelligence is apparently not what's at stake here.
All In The Family?
Verywell Health, a highly rated and credibly vetted portal of articles authored by medical professionals, states having a family history of dementia does increase your risk of developing it. Having a first-degree relative (parent, sibling, or child) with Alzheimer's disease increases the risk of developing it by 10% to 30%.
In addition, having the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, which is linked to Alzheimer’s, can increase the risk of developing dementia. But having a family history or genes connected to dementia does not mean you will automatically develop the disease.
Turn It Up!
So if the brain lobes also control hearing, does that mean there's a connection to hearing loss as we age? And is it hereditary?
Mayo Clinic says there are a number of contributors to hearing loss. Age-related hearing loss is found in more than half the people in the United States older than 75 and can come on little by little as you age (known as presbycusis). The inner ear simply breaks down over time.
Many factors can disrupt the transmission of signals to the brain and turned into sound. They include loud noise over time (or a short blast, such as gunfire), noises on the job where noise is constant (such as farming or factory work), noises at play (such as loud music or motorcycling), some medicines (such as certain cancer meds, antimalarial drugs, and Viagra), some illnesses (such as meningitis)...and heredity.
Recent research at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health suggests hearing loss doesn’t just mean an older adult needs to turn up the TV...it's also been linked to a range of health problems, including dementia. Leading scientists are even beginning to believe that hearing loss might actually be a cause of dementia. This is exciting news, as it could mean wearing a hearing aid could reduce the likelihood of getting dementia. The brain would then be relieved from the strain of trying to hear, optimistically reducing the rate of shrinkage to the temporal lobe.
So...nature...or nurture? Both. Or neither.
Moving Forward
Luckily for our family, The Aunts are smart and beautiful. They are funny and engaging. They are interested in what's going on in the world. They are there for each other even when they are miffed with each other. They are talented, each in her own way. They care deeply about me and Cool Cousin, and express genuine delight when they see us. They are faithful.
So...is this our future? I sure hope so.
Resources and References
Graphics source: Google Images
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