Cognitive Performance and Incident Alzheimer’s Dementia in Men Versus Women

Abstract

Background The utility of neuropsychological measurements as forerunners of Alzheimer’s Disease Dementia (AD) in individuals with normal cognition or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is undeniable. Objectives To assess the differential prognostic value of cognitive performance in older men versus women. Design Longitudinal analysis of data acquired from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set. Settings Data on older adults (≥60 years) were derived from 43 National Institute on Aging - funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers. Participants 10,073 cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults followed for 5.5±3.8 years and 3,925 participants with amnestic MCI monitored for 3.5±2.8 years. Measurements The domains of episodic memory, verbal fluency, naming, attention, processing speed and executive function were assessed. Cox proportional hazards models examined associations between individual cognitive domains and AD incidence separately for each participant set. CU and MCI. These predictive models featured individual neuropsychological measures, sex, neuropsychological measure by sex interactions, as well as a number of crucial covariates. Results Episodic memory and verbal fluency were differentially related to future AD among CU individuals, explaining a larger proportion of risk variance in women compared to men. On the other hand, naming, attention and executive function were differentially related to future AD among participants with MCI, accounting for a greater fraction of risk variance in men than women. Conclusion Cognitive performance is differentially related to risk of progressing to AD in men versus women without dementia. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at 10.14283/jpad.2023.90 and is accessible for authorized users.

The Contribution of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to the Study of Neurodegenerative Disorders: A Narrative Review

“…Considering the impact of neurodegenerative disorders, it is necessary to develop widely accessible and easily operated tools to overcome early diagnostic challenges [ 93 , 94 , 95 ]. Thanks to its user-friendly nature and compatibility with other functional neuroimaging techniques, fNIRS holds great potential for the diagnostic assessment of early neurocognitive and motor decline.…”

Language and Communication Interventions in People with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Systematic Review

“…The yearly worldwide cost of dementia is estimated at $1.3 trillion [47]. Thus, accurate and prompt intervention is of utmost importance [48,49].…”

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and incident Lewy body dementia in male versus female older adults with mild cognitive impairment

“…Hence, clinical manifestations have been long used as preclinical markers of AD and non–AD dementias 6–8 . Alzheimer research has already revealed sex‐specific patterns in the preclinical courses of cognitive and neuropsychiatric manifestations 9,10 . To enhance the utility of NPS as forerunners of LBD, we explored sex‐specific patterns in the preclinical course of LBD.…”

“…[6][7][8] Alzheimer research has already revealed sex-specific patterns in the preclinical courses of cognitive and neuropsychiatric manifestations. 9,10 To enhance the utility of NPS as forerunners of LBD, we explored sex-specific patterns in the preclinical course of LBD. Future research must confirm our findings and examine additional prodromal clinical markers in search of an optimized predictive model that will serve preclinical detection purposes for individuals at high risk of converting to LBD.…”