Do men show more rapid age-associated decline in simulated everyday verbal memory than do women?
Recent magnetic resonance imaging data suggest that men show more rapid age-associated atrophy of the left hemisphere than do women. To investigate whether a similar pattern occurs for functional decline, the authors tested 417 male-female pairs, ages 17-79 years and matched perfectly on age and education, on 3 computer-simulated everyday verbal memory tests: Name-Face Association, First-Last Name Associate Learning, and Grocery List Selective Reminding. Age and gender significantly predicted performance on all 3 tests. By contrast, only 1 of 15 Age x Gender interactions was significant, accounting for merely 1% of the test variance. These data suggest that although gender-based differences in rate of left-hemisphere structural decline may occur with normal aging, these apparently do not translate into differential functional decline in simulated everyday verbal memory.
Larrabee
G J
GJ
Memory Assessment Clinics, Incorporated, Sarasota, Florida.
Crook
T H
TH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010153:Paired-Associate Learning; D012153:Retention, Psychology; D014706:Verbal Learning