title: Sex differences in cognitive training effects of patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.
abstract: Cognitive training has been shown to be effective in improving cognitive functions in patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). However, data on factors that may influence training gains including sociodemographic variables such as sex or age is rare. In this study, the impact of sex on cognitive training effects was examined in N = 32 age- and education-matched female (n = 16) and male (n = 16) amnestic MCI patients (total sample: age M = 74.97, SD = 5.21; education M = 13.50, SD = 3.11). Patients participated in a six-week multidomain cognitive training program including 12 sessions each 90 min twice weekly in mixed groups with both women and men. Various cognitive domains were assessed before and after the intervention. Despite comparable baseline performance in women and men, we found significant interaction effects Time × Sex in immediate (p = .04) and delayed verbal episodic memory (p= .045) as well as in working memory (p = .042) favoring the female MCI patients. In contrast, the overall analyses with the total sample did not reveal any significant within-subject effects Time. In conclusion, our results give preliminary evidence for stronger cognitive training improvements of female compared to male MCI patients. More generally, they emphasize the importance of sex-sensitive evaluations of cognitive training effects. Possible underlying mechanisms of the found sex differences are discussed and directions for future research are given.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Gerontology & Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI) , University of Vechta , Vechta , Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rahe
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liesk
authors.forename: Jan B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Rosen
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrelli
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaesberg
authors.forename: Oezguer A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Onur
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: Gereon R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Elke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalbe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000647:Amnesia / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D001288:Attention; D003071:Cognition; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: cognitive plasticity; cognitive training effects; mild cognitive impairment; prevention of dementia; sex difference