New research indicates that subtle changes in financial habits and banking data can serve as early warning signs for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, potentially years before a formal diagnosis. These findings suggest that financial institutions and healthcare providers could collaborate to identify individuals at risk, enabling earlier intervention and support.
Money Matters: An Unexpected Window into Brain Health
Emerging research highlights a surprising connection between an individual’s financial management skills and their cognitive health. Studies are increasingly showing that difficulties with money management, such as vulnerability to scams, unusual spending patterns, or issues with routine banking tasks, can be among the earliest indicators of cognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease.
- Early Detection Potential: Financial behaviors may offer a more accessible and earlier detection method than traditional biomarkers, appearing years or even decades before other noticeable symptoms like memory loss.
- Brain Region Link: Research from USC Dornsife points to the entorhinal cortex, a brain region affected early in Alzheimer’s, as potentially explaining increased vulnerability to financial exploitation. Thinning in this area was associated with higher financial vulnerability.
- Plaque Deposits and Financial Skills: Duke Health research found a correlation between increased beta-amyloid plaque deposits in the brain and a decline in financial skills, even in the early stages of mild memory impairment.
Behavioral Shifts in Banking Data
A significant study published in JAMA Network Open, analyzing anonymized banking records of over 66,000 individuals, revealed specific behavioral changes that precede a formal loss of financial capacity. These subtle shifts can be detected up to a decade in advance:
- Reduced Engagement: Individuals showed a decreased likelihood of spending on travel and hobbies.
- Increased Home-Based Spending: A shift towards more household bills and home-based expenditures was observed.
- Digital Disengagement: Fewer online banking logins were noted.
- Increased Errors and Vulnerability: More frequent reports of fraud, lost cards, and requests for PIN resets were common.
These patterns suggest that as cognitive function declines, individuals may reduce complex out-of-home activities and become more susceptible to financial errors and exploitation.
The Path Forward: Collaboration and Early Intervention
The implications of this research are profound, suggesting a need for greater collaboration between the financial industry and healthcare sectors. Financial institutions, with their access to transactional data, are uniquely positioned to identify these early warning signs. However, ethical considerations and data privacy safeguards are paramount.
- Proactive Counseling: Doctors could utilize financial capacity assessments as a tool to track cognitive function over time.
- Industry Awareness: The financial industry has a strong incentive to prevent fraud and exploitation, and understanding these behavioral markers can help them strengthen safeguards for vulnerable customers.
- Integrated Approaches: Future research aims to integrate financial data with health and social care pathways, leading to more effective early interventions and support systems for individuals at risk of cognitive decline.
Sources
- Vulnerability to financial scams in aging adults could be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease, new
research shows, USC Dornsife. - As Plaque Deposits Increase in the Aging Brain, Money Management Falters, Duke Health.
- For early signs of dementia, check bank accounts, not biomarkers, STAT.
- Human Verification, National Institute on Aging (.gov).
- Banking data reveals early warning signs of cognitive decline in older adults, Medical Xpress.