1. Menopause status- and sex-related differences in age associations with spatial context memory and white matter microstructure at midlife.
- Author
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Lissaman R, Rajagopal S, Kearley J, Pasvanis S, and Rajah MN
- Subjects
- Humans, Female, Middle Aged, Male, Adult, Postmenopause physiology, Postmenopause psychology, Memory, Episodic, White Matter diagnostic imaging, White Matter pathology, Spatial Memory physiology, Sex Characteristics, Aging pathology, Aging psychology, Aging physiology, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Menopause physiology, Menopause psychology
- Abstract
Decline in spatial context memory emerges in midlife, the time when most females transition from pre- to post-menopause. Recent evidence suggests that, among post-menopausal females, advanced age is associated with functional brain alterations and lower spatial context memory. However, it is unknown whether similar effects are evident for white matter (WM) and, moreover, whether such effects contribute to sex differences at midlife. To address this, we conducted a study on 96 cognitively unimpaired middle-aged adults (30 males, 32 pre-menopausal females, 34 post-menopausal females). Spatial context memory was assessed using a face-location memory paradigm, while WM microstructure was assessed using diffusion tensor imaging. Behaviorally, advanced age was associated with lower spatial context memory in post-menopausal females but not pre-menopausal females or males. Additionally, advanced age was associated with microstructural variability in predominantly frontal WM (e.g., anterior corona radiata, genu of corpus callosum), which was related to lower spatial context memory among post-menopausal females. Our findings suggest that post-menopausal status enhances vulnerability to age effects on the brain's WM and episodic memory., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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