Genetic risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder predicts cognitive decline and development of Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology in cognitively unimpaired older adults

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persists in older age and is postulated as a risk factor for cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). However, these findings rely primarily on electronic health records and can present biased estimates of disease prevalence. An obstacle to investigating age-related cognitive decline in ADHD is the absence of large-scale studies following patients with ADHD into older age. Alternatively, this study aimed to determine whether genetic liability for ADHD, as measured by a well-validated ADHD polygenic risk score (ADHD-PRS), is associated with cognitive decline and the development of AD pathophysiology in cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults. We calculated a weighted ADHD-PRS in 212 CU individuals without a clinical diagnosis of ADHD (55–90 years). These individuals had baseline amyloid-β (Aβ) positron emission tomography, longitudinal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) phosphorylated tau at threonine 181 (p-tau 181 ), magnetic resonance imaging, and cognitive assessments for up to 6 years. Linear mixed-effects models were used to test the association of ADHD-PRS with cognition and AD biomarkers. Higher ADHD-PRS was associated with greater cognitive decline over 6 years. The combined effect between high ADHD-PRS and brain Aβ deposition on cognitive deterioration was more significant than each individually. Additionally, higher ADHD-PRS was associated with increased CSF p-tau 181 levels and frontoparietal atrophy in CU Aβ-positive individuals. Our results suggest that genetic liability for ADHD is associated with cognitive deterioration and the development of AD pathophysiology. Findings were mostly observed in Aβ-positive individuals, suggesting that the genetic liability for ADHD increases susceptibility to the harmful effects of Aβ pathology.