Religious stress coping is associated with lower entorhinal tau pathology and better memory performance in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract

Stress is a known risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but religious stress coping practices, (e.g., prayer and attending religious services) may reduce this risk. We investigated the relation between religious stress coping and memory in cognitively-unimpaired individuals from the Colombian kindred with autosomal dominant AD. Additionally, we examined the link between religious stress coping and brain pathology. Religious coping was associated with lower entorhinal tau (p = 0.02) and better memory performance (p = 0.04) in Presenilin-1 E280A mutation carriers, but not in non-carriers. These findings suggest that religious coping may mitigate AD tau pathology and cognitive decline and warrant further investigation.