Anxiety symptoms that increase over time have been linked to elevated amyloid beta levels and the early signs of Alzheimer’s, according to Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers.

The study used data from the Harvard Aging Brain study and cognitively normal men and women between ages 62 and 90. The researchers said what they found supports the theory that emerging neuropsychiatric symptoms represent an early manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease.

Findings were published in The American Journal of Psychiatry in January