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Introduction: This study assessed the association of plasma biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction with cognitive performance and decline., Methods: Data from 9414 individuals from eight Dutch cohorts were included (Ø  age-range: 57-93 years). Plasma biomarkers of endothelial dysfunction (soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1), soluble E-selectin) were combined into a standardized composite score. Cognitive outcomes included executive function, processing speed, immediate and delayed memory, attention, and language. Linear regressions and linear mixed models were run in the individual cohorts and standardized coefficients were subsequently pooled using random-effects meta-analyses., Results: A higher endothelial dysfunction composite score was cross-sectionally associated with worse performance on executive function, processing speed, delayed memory, and attention, but not immediate memory or language (pooled β-range: -0.04, -0.02). We found no association with change in cognition over time., Discussion: This comprehensive two-step, individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis showed a small, consistent cross-sectional association between endothelial dysfunction and worse cognitive performance across multiple domains but no support for a longitudinal association., Highlights: Prior evidence on endothelial dysfunction (ED) biomarkers and cognition is conflicting. This two-step, individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis used data from eight Dutch cohorts. ED was consistently associated with concurrent cognition. ED was not associated with a change in cognition over time. The association of ED with current cognition may be generic., (© 2024 The Author(s). Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Sex and gender-biological and social constructs-significantly impact the prevalence of protective and risk factors, influencing the burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD; amyloid beta and tau) and other pathologies (e.g., cerebrovascular disease) which ultimately shape cognitive trajectories. Understanding the interplay of these factors is central to understanding resilience and resistance mechanisms explaining maintained cognitive function and reduced pathology accumulation in aging and AD. In this narrative review, the ADDRESS! Special Interest Group (Alzheimer's Association) adopted a multidisciplinary approach to provide the foundations and recommendations for future research into sex- and gender-specific drivers of resilience, including a sex/gender-oriented review of risk factors, genetics, AD and non-AD pathologies, brain structure and function, and animal research. We urge the field to adopt a sex/gender-aware approach to resilience to advance our understanding of the intricate interplay of biological and social determinants and consider sex/gender-specific resilience throughout disease stages. HIGHLIGHTS: Sex differences in resilience to cognitive decline vary by age and cognitive status. Initial evidence supports sex-specific distinctions in brain pathology. Findings suggest sex differences in the impact of pathology on cognition. There is a sex-specific change in resilience in the transition to clinical stages. Gender and sex factors warrant study: modifiable, immune, inflammatory, and vascular., (© 2024 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Introduction: We compared gender disparities in later-life memory, overall and by education, in India and the United States (US)., Methods: Data (N = 7443) were from harmonized cognitive assessment protocols (HCAPs) in the Longitudinal Aging Study of India-Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI-DAD; N = 4096; 2017-19) and US Health and Retirement Study HCAP (HRS-HCAP; N = 3347; 2016-17). We derived harmonized memory factors from each study using confirmatory factor analysis. We used multivariable-adjusted linear regression to compare gender disparities in memory function between countries, overall and by education., Results: In the United States, older women had better memory than older men (0.28 SD-unit difference; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.35). In India, older women had worse memory than older men (-0.15 SD-unit difference; 95% CI: -0.20, -0.10), which attenuated with increasing education and literacy., Conclusion: We observed gender disparities in memory in India that were not present in the United States, and which dissipated with education and literacy., (© 2023 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Sex or gender differences in the risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) differ by world region, suggesting that there are potentially modifiable risk factors for intervention. However, few epidemiological or clinical ADRD studies examine sex differences; even fewer evaluate gender in the context of ADRD risk. The goals of this perspective are to: (1) provide definitions of gender, biologic sex, and sexual orientation. and the limitations of examining these as binary variables; (2) provide an overview of what is known with regard to sex and gender differences in the risk, prevention, and diagnosis of ADRD; and (3) discuss these sex and gender differences from a global, worldwide perspective. Identifying drivers of sex and gender differences in ADRD throughout the world is a first step in developing interventions unique to each geographical and sociocultural area to reduce these inequities and to ultimately reduce global ADRD risk. HIGHLIGHTS: The burden of dementia is unevenly distributed geographically and by sex and gender. Scientific advances in genetics and biomarkers challenge beliefs that sex is binary. Discrimination against women and sex and gender minority (SGM) populations contributes to cognitive decline. Sociocultural factors lead to gender inequities in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) worldwide., (© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.)

Introduction: We examined whether educational attainment differentially contributes to cognitive reserve (CR) across race/ethnicity., Methods: A total of 1553 non-Hispanic Whites (Whites), non-Hispanic Blacks (Blacks), and Hispanics in the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project (WHICAP) completed structural magnetic resonance imaging. Mixture growth curve modeling was used to examine whether the effect of brain integrity indicators (hippocampal volume, cortical thickness, and white matter hyperintensity [WMH] volumes) on memory and language trajectories was modified by education across racial/ethnic groups., Results: Higher educational attainment attenuated the negative impact of WMH burden on memory (β = -0.03; 99% CI: -0.071, -0.002) and language decline (β = -0.024; 99% CI:- 0.044, -0.004), as well as the impact of cortical thinning on level of language performance for Whites, but not for Blacks or Hispanics., Discussion: Educational attainment does not contribute to CR similarly across racial/ethnic groups., (© 2020 the Alzheimer's Association.)

Introduction: This study aimed to determine if later birth year influences trajectory of age-related cognitive decline across racial/ethnic groups and to test whether years of school, childhood socioeconomic status, and cardiovascular disease burden explain such secular trends., Methods: We compared cognitive trajectories of global cognition and subdomains in two successive racially/ethnically and educationally diverse birth cohorts of a prospective cohort study., Results: Later birth year was associated with higher initial cognitive levels for Whites and Blacks, but not Hispanics. Later birth year was also associated with less rapid rate of decline in all three racial/ethnic groups. More years of education, higher childhood socioeconomic status, and, to a smaller extent, greater cardiovascular disease burden accounted for higher intercepts in the later-born cohort, but did not account for attenuated slope of cognitive decline., Discussion: Later birth year is related to a slower rate of age-related decline in some cognitive domains in some racial/ethnic groups. Our analyses suggest that racial/ethnic and social inequalities are part of the mechanisms driving secular trends in cognitive aging and dementia., (Copyright © 2019 the Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The present study sought to determine whether cognitive trajectories differ between men and women across and within racial/ethnic groups., Methods: Participants were 5258 non-Hispanic White (NHW), Black, and Hispanic men and women in the Washington/Hamilton Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project who were administered neuropsychological tests of memory, language, and visuospatial abilities at 18- to 24-month intervals for up to 25 years. Multiple-group latent growth curve modeling examined trajectories across sex/gender by race/ethnicity., Results: After adjusting for age and education, the largest baseline differences were between NHW men and Hispanic women on visuospatial and language, and between NHW women and Black men on memory. Memory and visuospatial decline was steeper for Black women compared with Hispanic men and NHW women, respectively., Discussion: This study takes an important first step in understanding interactions between race/ethnicity and sex/gender on cognitive trajectories by demonstrating variability in sex/gender differences across race/ethnicity., (Copyright © 2019 the Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)