When Mars Versus Venus is Not a Cliché: Gender Differences in the Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease.

Katherine Amy Lin,P. Murali Doraiswamy

doi:10.3389/fneur.2014.00288

Katherine Amy Lin, P. Murali Doraiswamy

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2014.00288

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Abstract

OPINION article Front. Neurol., 12 January 2015Sec. Neurodegeneration https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2014.00288

Highlights

Of the several thousand research studies published in the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), only a tiny fraction are devoted to sex differences
Cognitive tests commonly used to screen for AD or measure progression in routine practice (e.g., MMSE) are known to show gender differences – suggesting that factors such as detection bias, cognitive reserve/education, or sociocultural effects could potentially contribute to gender differences in AD rates
Holland et al [11] studied 668 subjects and examined gender effects on brain atrophy and cognitive decline over a 3-year-period in a linear mixed effects model controlling for age, education, ApoE4, and baseline cognition

Summary

Introduction

Of the several thousand research studies published in the field of AD, only a tiny fraction are devoted to sex differences. The emergence of biomarker tests, such as CSF, brain volumetric MRI, and amyloid and tau PET scans, has allowed for a more unbiased investigation of how gender affects pathology and neuronal loss at both preclinical and clinical stages of the disease. Selected studies indicative of gender differences in atrophy, pathology, longitudinal cognitive changes, and diagnostic progression in AD are summarized below.

Results

Conclusion