Association of cognition with alcohol consumption in older adults

Excessive alcohol intake and no alcohol intake are associated with an increased risk of dementia relative to low to moderate alcohol consumption. A study investigated the cross-sectional association between different levels of alcohol consumption and cognition in the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease (A4 Study). Researchers examined whether this association would differ between sexes or based on individuals’ β-amyloid (Aβ) status.
The study included 4,387 cognitively unimpaired older adults who had both objective and subjective cognitive assessments and amyloid Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging. Participants were classified into 4 categories based on their average daily alcohol use: none, one, two, and three or more drinks/day. The main effects, as well as interactions with sex and Aβ levels, were analysed.
In the whole population, individuals who reported no alcohol consumption had lower scores on the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC) compared to those who reported consuming one or two drinks/day. The association between alcohol consumption and cognition was more prominent in females. Female participants who consumed two drinks/day had better performance on PACC and Cognitive Function Index compared to those who reported no alcohol consumption. In an Aβ status-stratified sample, the association between alcohol consumption and cognition was present only in the Aβ- subgroup. Among Aβ- individuals, those who consumed one drink/day had better performance on PACC and CFI compared to those who reported no alcohol consumption. The interaction between Aβ status and alcohol consumption on cognition was not significant.
Low or moderate consumption of alcohol is associated with better cognitive performance in cognitively unimpaired individuals. The association is more prominent in Aβ- individuals, which, the authors comment, might indicate that the pathophysiologic mechanism underlying the effect of alcohol on cognition is independent of Alzheimer Disease pathology. The interaction with Aβ status requires further investigation with larger samples consuming 3 or more drinks/day.
Source: Nallapu, B.T., Petersen, K.K., Lipton, R.B., Grober, E. and Ezzati, A. (2022), Association of Cognition with Alcohol Consumption in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults: Results from the A4 study. Alzheimer’s Dement., 18: e067226.