Gender-related differences in visuospatial memory persist in Alzheimer's disease.
Gender differences in visuospatial cognition favoring men are larger in tasks requiring active information manipulation than in tasks requiring passive storage. This study was designed to determine whether male advantage in active manipulation of visuospatial information can still be evidenced in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Twenty male and 20 female AD patients with equivalent age, education, dementia severity (Mini-Mental State Examination and Mattis Dementia Rating Scale), and visual discrimination abilities were recruited. We administered the forward span of Corsi block-tapping task and Vecchi's matrix memory task involving passive temporary retention of stimuli location. Active manipulation of visuospatial information was assessed with the backward span of Corsi block-tapping task and Vecchi's pathway task in which patients were required to mentally generate a pathway within a matrix. The results showed that scores on the tasks involving passive storage of visuospatial information were equivalent between the two groups of patients, whereas men performed significantly better than women in tasks requiring active manipulation of visuospatial information. This result was limited to visuospatial processing since no difference between male and female patients was evidenced in the verbal short-term memory tasks, neither when the task involved passive storage nor when the task required active processing. Therefore, this study suggests that, besides other variables such as education or lifestyle factors, gender might also modulate the cognitive manifestation of AD.
Millet
Xavier
X
Inserm U.897, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France. xavier.millet@isped.u-bordeaux2.fr
Raoux
Nadine
N
Le Carret
Nicolas
N
Bouisson
Jean
J
Dartigues
Jean-François
JF
Amieva
Hélène
H
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*