Abstract
Background: The effect of educational status on brain structural measurements depends on demographic and clinical factors in cognitively healthy older adults.Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate the impact of interaction between years of education and sex on gray matter volume and to investigate whether cortical volume has a differential impact on cognitive function according to sex.Methods: One hundred twenty-one subjects between 60 and 85 years old were included in this study. Gray matter volume was evaluated by whole brain surface-based morphometry. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the effects of sex-cortical volume interactions on cognitive functions.Results: There was a significant interaction between years of education and sex on the cortical volume of the left inferior temporal gyrus after adjusting for age, APOE ε4 allele prevalence, and total intracranial volume. In addition, we found a significant impact of the interaction between adjusted left inferior temporal volume and sex on CERAD-K total scores.Conclusion: These findings have significant implications for the understanding of how sex could affect the role of cognitive reserve for cortical atrophy in cognitively intact older adults.
Highlights
The concept of reserve has emerged to explain the differential impact of neuropathological changes due to the aging process and neurodegenerative disease on individual clinical outcome, including cognitive decline and decreased ability to perform daily functions [1]
There were no significant differences in age, years of education, and APOE ε4 genotype between two groups
After adjusting for age, APOE ε4 genotype, and total intracranial volume, the interaction between educational status and sex demonstrated a significant effect on the cortical volume of the left inferior temporal gyrus, right postcentral gyrus, and right superior parietal lobule (Figure 1)
Summary
The concept of reserve has emerged to explain the differential impact of neuropathological changes due to the aging process and neurodegenerative disease on individual clinical outcome, including cognitive decline and decreased ability to perform daily functions [1]. Years of education have been correlated with the gray matter volume of several brain regions, including the medial and frontal gyri, superior temporal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex in older adults with normal cognitive function [10,11,12]. Another previous study has reported the interaction between education and total brain volume on cognitive decline in cognitively intact older adults [13]. The effect of educational status on brain structural measurements depends on demographic and clinical factors in cognitively healthy older adults
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