Stereotype Threat and Genotyping for Alzheimer Disease

Knowing one's risk can affect self-reported symptoms and test performance.

“Diagnosis threat” (e.g., in traumatic brain injury; NEJM JW Psychiatry Apr 4 2011) is an extension of “stereotype threat,” a well-described and researched finding that society's view of a subgroup affects that group's performance — e.g., American black men on academic tests, women on math tests, white men on athletic tasks, and older individuals on dementia tests. Researchers have previously found that APOE genotype testing for Alzheimer disease risk did not increase anxiety in the relatives of affected individuals (NEJM JW Psychiatry Jul 20 2009). The current research group has examined another possible consequence of testing: whether knowing that one has the risk APOE4 allele affects subjective complaints and performance on memory tasks.…

Reviewing Author

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

Stereotype Threat and Genotyping for Alzheimer Disease

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Reviewing Author