Differential Effects of ADHD Polygenic Risk on Cognitive Performance in Later Life

Abstract

Objective: Understanding the association between polygenic risk for ADHD and cognition throughout aging has not been widely studied. This study aimed to determine whether ADHD risk influences cognitive performance among individuals at both young-old and middle-old age. Method: Participants from the Health and Retirement Study, a biennial survey of 20,000 Americans, were compared on executive function and delayed recall measures using regression analyses. Results: There was no significant effect of ADHD risk on memory at both age waves for African-ancestry (AA; n = 403) and European-ancestry (EA; n = 2,286). There was, however, a significant association between ADHD risk and performance on executive function for EA at middle-old age ( p = .028), but not young-old age; no such association was observed for AA adults. Conclusion: This finding suggests that ADHD risk may differentially influence cognition among older adults throughout the aging process, with important implications for future research.