Abstract
Abstract Background Estimates from the Alzheimer’s Association indicate that approximately one in ten older adults in the US have Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia while 15 to 20% have mild cognitive impairment (MCI), projecting that about a third of those will develop dementia within five years. The Cognitive Reserve/ Resilience (CR/R) theory postulates that complex mental activity throughout the lifetime builds resilience to cognitive decline despite the biological risk (a neurodegenerative disease). Emerging evidence shows that bilingualism may be one of these neuroprotective factors in the aging brain, but results in bilingualism and CR/R remain inconsistent. Methods We studied 238 Latino older adults (age 71.8 ± 8.0 years old, 65% female) from the 1Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center who were diagnosed as clinically normal, MCI, or dementia. Of these, 158 were Spanish‐English bilinguals and 80 were Spanish monolinguals. Bilingualism was assessed by a proficiency questionnaire. Six cognitive composites were developed (Figure 1). We investigated cognitive test correlates of plasma P‐tau181 (Quanterix simoa), hippocampal volume, and amyloid PET (Centiloid) biomarkers in both language groups, using 2×3 ANCOVAs (controlling for age and level of education). We analyzed correlations between biomarkers and cognition and performed multiple regression analyses within each language group. Results The main effect of the diagnostic group was significant for all biomarkers ( ps < .001). There was no main effect of the language group and no significant interactions. The correlations between biomarkers were equally significant for both language groups but differences in the association of biomarkers with cognitive tests emerged between language groups. Bilinguals showed a stronger negative association between hippocampal volume and cognitive test scores than monolinguals. In bilinguals, higher PTau181 was associated with lower visuomotor composite scores, while amyloid PET positivity and lower hippocampal volume were associated with cognitive stress and working memory. In monolinguals, higher PTau181 was associated with worse inhibitory control, and amyloid PET positivity and lower hippocampal volume were associated with worse memory. Conclusion Results demonstrated discrepancies between bilingual and monolingual Latinos in the associations between cognitive composites and AD biomarkers. Further exploring the relationship between bilingualism, cognitive test scores, and biomarker patterns is warranted, especially longitudinally.