Sex differences in healthy brain aging are unlikely to explain higher Alzheimer’s disease prevalence in women
Abstract
As Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is diagnosed more frequently in women, understanding the role of sex has become a key priority in AD research. However, despite aging being the primary risk factor for AD, it remains unclear whether men and women differ in the extent of brain decline with age. Using 12,638 longitudinal brain MRIs from 4,726 participants aged 17 to 95 y across 14 cohorts, we examined sex differences in structural brain changes over time, controlling for differences in head size. Men showed greater cortical thickness (CT) decline in the cuneus, lingual, parahippocampal, and pericalcarine regions; surface area decline in the fusiform and postcentral regions; and in older adults, greater subcortical decline in the caudate, nucleus accumbens, putamen, and pallidum. In contrast, women only showed greater surface area decline in the banks of the superior temporal sulcus and greater ventricular expansion in older adults. These results suggest that sex differences in age-related brain decline are unlikely to contribute to the higher AD diagnosis prevalence in women, necessitating research into alternative explanations.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (21)
Anne Ravndal
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Anders M. Fjell
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Didac Vidal-Piñeiro
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Øystein Sørensen
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Emilie S. Falch
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Julia Kropiunig
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Pablo F. Garrido
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
James M. Roe
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
José-Luis Alatorre-Warren
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Markus H. Sneve
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
David Bartrés-Faz
Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Neurosciences Institute, University of Barcelona
Alvaro Pascual-Leone
Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research and Deanna and Sidney Wolk Center for Memory Health, Hebrew SeniorLife
Andreas M. Brandmaier
Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Sandra Düzel
Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Simone Kühn
Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Ulman Lindenberger
Center for Lifespan Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Lars Nyberg
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Leiv Otto Watne
Oslo Delirium Research Group, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Campus Ahus, University of Oslo
Richard N. Henson
Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge
Kristine B. Walhovd
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo
Håkon Grydeland
Center for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo