Journal article
Better verbal memory in women than men in MCI despite similar levels of hippocampal atrophy
Neurology, Vol.86(15), pp.1368-1376
04/12/2016
DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002570
PMCID: PMC4831033
PMID: 26984945
Abstract
To examine sex differences in the relationship between clinical symptoms related to Alzheimer disease (AD) (verbal memory deficits) and neurodegeneration (hippocampal volume/intracranial volume ratio [HpVR]) across AD stages.
The sample included 379 healthy participants, 694 participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and 235 participants with AD and dementia from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative who completed the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Cross-sectional analyses were conducted using linear regression to examine the interaction between sex and HpVR on RAVLT across and within diagnostic groups adjusting for age, education, and APOE ε4 status.
Across groups, there were significant sex × HpVR interactions for immediate and delayed recall (p < 0.01). Women outperformed men among individuals with moderate to larger HpVR, but not among individuals with smaller HpVR. In diagnosis-stratified analyses, the HpVR × sex interaction was significant in the aMCI group, but not in the control or AD dementia groups, for immediate and delayed recall (p < 0.01). Among controls, women outperformed men on both outcomes irrespective of HpVR (p < 0.001). In AD dementia, better RAVLT performance was independently associated with female sex (immediate, p = 0.04) and larger HpVR (delayed, p = 0.001).
Women showed an advantage in verbal memory despite evidence of moderate hippocampal atrophy. This advantage may represent a sex-specific form of cognitive reserve delaying verbal memory decline until more advanced disease stages.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Better verbal memory in women than men in MCI despite similar levels of hippocampal atrophy
- Creators
- Erin E Sundermann - From the Einstein Aging Study and the Department of Neurology (E.E.S., R.B.L.) and the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health (W.M.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx; Department of Neurology (A.B.), State University of New York, Stony Brook; Department of Psychiatry (L.H.R., P.M.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago; and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (S.L.), University of California, Berkeley. erin.sundermann@einstein.yu.eduAnat Biegon - From the Einstein Aging Study and the Department of Neurology (E.E.S., R.B.L.) and the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health (W.M.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx; Department of Neurology (A.B.), State University of New York, Stony Brook; Department of Psychiatry (L.H.R., P.M.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago; and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (S.L.), University of California, BerkeleyLeah H Rubin - From the Einstein Aging Study and the Department of Neurology (E.E.S., R.B.L.) and the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health (W.M.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx; Department of Neurology (A.B.), State University of New York, Stony Brook; Department of Psychiatry (L.H.R., P.M.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago; and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (S.L.), University of California, BerkeleyRichard B Lipton - From the Einstein Aging Study and the Department of Neurology (E.E.S., R.B.L.) and the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health (W.M.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx; Department of Neurology (A.B.), State University of New York, Stony Brook; Department of Psychiatry (L.H.R., P.M.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago; and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (S.L.), University of California, BerkeleyWenzhu Mowrey - From the Einstein Aging Study and the Department of Neurology (E.E.S., R.B.L.) and the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health (W.M.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx; Department of Neurology (A.B.), State University of New York, Stony Brook; Department of Psychiatry (L.H.R., P.M.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago; and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (S.L.), University of California, BerkeleySusan Landau - From the Einstein Aging Study and the Department of Neurology (E.E.S., R.B.L.) and the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health (W.M.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx; Department of Neurology (A.B.), State University of New York, Stony Brook; Department of Psychiatry (L.H.R., P.M.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago; and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (S.L.), University of California, BerkeleyPauline M Maki - From the Einstein Aging Study and the Department of Neurology (E.E.S., R.B.L.) and the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health (W.M.), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx; Department of Neurology (A.B.), State University of New York, Stony Brook; Department of Psychiatry (L.H.R., P.M.M.), University of Illinois at Chicago; and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute (S.L.), University of California, BerkeleyAlzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative
- Contributors
- Laura L Boles-Ponto (Contributor) - University of Iowa, Radiology
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Neurology, Vol.86(15), pp.1368-1376
- Publisher
- United States
- DOI
- 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002570
- PMID
- 26984945
- PMCID
- PMC4831033
- ISSN
- 0028-3878
- eISSN
- 1526-632X
- Grant note
- K23 NS047256 / NINDS NIH HHS R01 AG022374 / NIA NIH HHS P01 AG027734 / NIA NIH HHS R01 AG034119 / NIA NIH HHS R01 AG025119 / NIA NIH HHS K23 AG030857 / NIA NIH HHS T32 GM007288 / NIGMS NIH HHS U24 AG021886 / NIA NIH HHS P01 AG003949 / NIA NIH HHS R01 AG012101 / NIA NIH HHS U01 AG024904 / NIA NIH HHS R01 AG026728 / NIA NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 04/12/2016
- Academic Unit
- Radiology; Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics
- Record Identifier
- 9984051722202771
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