title: Effects of sex and normal aging on regional brain activation during verbal memory performance.
abstract: This study examined the main and interactive effects of age and sex on relative glucose metabolic rate (rGMR) within gray matter of 39 cortical Brodmann areas (BAs) and the cingulate gyrus using (18)FDG-PET during a verbal memory task in 70 healthy normal adults, aged 20-87 years. Women showed significantly greater age-related rGMR decline in left cingulate gyrus than men (BAs 25, 24, 23, 31, 29). Both groups showed a decline in the anterior cingulate--a neuroanatomical structure that mediates effective cognitive-emotional interactions (BAs 32, 24, 25), while the other frontal regions did not show substantial decline. No sex differences in rGMR were identified within temporal, parietal and occipital lobes. Sex differences were observed for rGMR within subcomponents of the cingulate gyrus with men higher in BA25 and BA29, but lower in BA24 and BA 23 compared to women. For men, better memory performance was associated with greater rGMR in BA24, whereas in women better performance was associated with orbitofrontal-BA12. These results suggest that both age-related metabolic decline and sex differences within frontal regions are more marked in medial frontal and cingulate areas, consistent with some age-related patterns of affective and cognitive change.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA. erin.hazlett@mssm.edu
authors.forename: Erin A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Hazlett
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Byne
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Brickman
authors.forename: Effie M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Mitsis
authors.forename: Randall
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Newmark
authors.forename: M Mehmet
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Haznedar
authors.forename: Danielle T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Knatz
authors.forename: Amy D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Monte S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Buchsbaum
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012691:Serial Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology