Greater cognitive deterioration in women than men with Alzheimer's disease: A meta analysis
Abstract
Studies reporting on the cognitive abilities of men and women with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are surprisingly rare. We carried out a meta-analysis of neurocognitive data from 15 studies (n = 828 men; 1,238 women), which revealed a consistent male advantage on verbal and visuospatial tasks and tests of episodic and semantic memory. Moderator regression analyses showed that age, education level, and dementia severity did not significantly predict the male advantage. Reasons posited for this advantage include a reduction of estrogen in postmenopausal women, sex differences in AD pathology, and greater cognitive reserve in men.
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Women exhibit increased global Alzheimer's neuropathological burden and greater cognitive impairment compared to men.
“However, despite their prolonged survival, even with Alzheimer’s disease [7–9], women exhibit increased global Alzheimer’s neuropathological burden and greater cognitive impairment [10–13].”
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- Authors
- Irvine, K., Laws, K. R., Gale, T. M., & Kondel, T. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Hertfordshire (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Irvine, Karen
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2012-11
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 989-998
- ISSN
- 0165-0475 (ISSN-L)
- 1380-3395
- 1744-411X
- OpenAlex
- W2078305076
- Cited by
- 290
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 6.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Hertfordshire Research Archive (University of Hertfordshire) (acceptedVersion)
- University of Hertfordshire Research Archive (University of Hertfordshire) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pulmonary and Respiratory Medicine › Cancer-related cognitive impairment studies
- Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease, sex differences, cognitive decline, verbal memory, visuospatial memory, episodic memory, semantic memory, postmenopausal estrogen, cognitive reserve, dementia severity, age and education effects
- MeSH terms
- Alzheimer Disease, Cognition Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Neuropsychological Tests, Sex Factors, Space Perception, Verbal Behavior, Sex Distribution
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