A recent NIA-funded study has shown that personality traits in early life may predict dementia risk 50 years later. The study used data from Project TALENT, the largest survey of U.S. high school students in existence. Project TALENT began in 1960, surveying over 1,200 high schools and 377,000 students across the country. The current study included approximately one quarter of the original respondents and sought to evaluate associations between personality traits in adolescence and dementia risk in later life. Ten traits were assessed as part of the Project TALENT personality inventory; of these, vigor (reflecting vitality, energy, and physical activity) was associated with a decreased risk of dementia in later life. Two additional traits, calmness and maturity, were associated with decreased dementia risk, although these associations appeared to be moderated by socioeconomic status. These findings, published in JAMA Psychiatry, support prior research which has linked early life experiences to later life cognition and dementia risk.