Structural volume and cortical thickness differences between males and females in cognitively normal, cognitively impaired and Alzheimer's dementia population

Neurobiol Aging. 2021 Oct:106:1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.05.018. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

Abstract

We investigated differences due to sex in brain structural volume and cortical thickness in older cognitively normal (N=742), cognitively impaired (MCI; N=540) and Alzheimer's Dementia (AD; N=402) individuals from the ADNI and AIBL datasets (861 Males and 823 Females). General linear models were used to control the effect of relevant covariates including age, intracranial volume, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner field strength and scanner types. Significant volumetric differences due to sex were observed within different cortical and subcortical regions of the cognitively normal group. The number of significantly different regions was reduced in the MCI group, and no region remained different in the AD group. Cortical thickness was overall thinner in males than females in the cognitively normal group, and likewise, the differences due to sex were reduced in the MCI and AD groups. These findings were sustained after including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Tau and phosphorylated tau (pTau) as additional covariates.

Keywords: AD; Brain volume; Cognitively normal; Cortical thickness; MCI; Sex.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Age Factors
  • Aged
  • Aging / pathology*
  • Alzheimer Disease / pathology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / diagnostic imaging
  • Cerebral Cortex / pathology*
  • Cognitive Dysfunction / pathology*
  • Female
  • Healthy Volunteers*
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Organ Size
  • Sex Characteristics*
  • tau Proteins / cerebrospinal fluid

Substances

  • tau Proteins