TY - JOUR
T1 - Influence of sex differences in interpreting learning and memory within a clinical sample of older adults
AU - Brunet, Hannah E.
AU - Caldwell, Jessica Z.K.
AU - Brandt, Jason
AU - Miller, Justin B.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under grant number [5P20GM109025]; and The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2020/1/2
Y1 - 2020/1/2
N2 - Sex is an important factor to consider when evaluating memory with older adults. This present study aimed to examine sex differences in memory within a clinical sample of older adults (N = 1084). Raw learning and recall scores on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Revised (HVLT-R) and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, Revised (BVMT-R) were compared between sexes within the entire sample and cohorts stratified by age. Within the entire sample, women outperformed men in HVLT-R learning and recall, and there were no sex differences in BVMT-R performance. These sex differences, however, were absent or reversed for those with impaired HVLT-R performance and functional deficits, indicating that women retain an early advantage in verbal memory, which is lost with greater indication of disease severity. These findings indicate that women retain an advantage in verbal learning and memory, at least before significant levels of impairment, within a sample of older adults seen at an outpatient neurology clinic, which may have implications for diagnosing memory disorders.
AB - Sex is an important factor to consider when evaluating memory with older adults. This present study aimed to examine sex differences in memory within a clinical sample of older adults (N = 1084). Raw learning and recall scores on the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, Revised (HVLT-R) and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test, Revised (BVMT-R) were compared between sexes within the entire sample and cohorts stratified by age. Within the entire sample, women outperformed men in HVLT-R learning and recall, and there were no sex differences in BVMT-R performance. These sex differences, however, were absent or reversed for those with impaired HVLT-R performance and functional deficits, indicating that women retain an early advantage in verbal memory, which is lost with greater indication of disease severity. These findings indicate that women retain an advantage in verbal learning and memory, at least before significant levels of impairment, within a sample of older adults seen at an outpatient neurology clinic, which may have implications for diagnosing memory disorders.
KW - Memory
KW - cognitive impairment
KW - neuropsychology
KW - psychometrics
KW - sex differences
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U2 - 10.1080/13825585.2019.1566433
DO - 10.1080/13825585.2019.1566433
M3 - Article
C2 - 30663493
AN - SCOPUS:85060466230
SN - 1382-5585
VL - 27
SP - 18
EP - 39
JO - Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition
JF - Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition
IS - 1
ER -