Sex Differences in Cognition are Stable Over a 10-Year Period in Adulthood and Old Age

Sex differences in declarative memory and visuospatial ability are robust in cross-sectional studies. The present longitudinal study examined whether sex differences in cognition were present over a 10-year period, and whether age modified the magnitude of sex differences. Tests assessing episodic a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:AGING NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND COGNITION 2006-12, Vol.13 (3-4), p.574-587
Main Authors: de Frias, Cindy M., Nilsson, Lars-Göran, Herlitz, Agneta
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age Distribution
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
aging
Analysis of Variance
Cognition - physiology
Female
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Male
memory
Memory - physiology
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychology
Psykologi
SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP
Sex Characteristics
sex differences
SOCIAL SCIENCES
Socialvetenskap
Verbal Learning - physiology
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Summary:Sex differences in declarative memory and visuospatial ability are robust in cross-sectional studies. The present longitudinal study examined whether sex differences in cognition were present over a 10-year period, and whether age modified the magnitude of sex differences. Tests assessing episodic and semantic memory, and visuospatial ability were administered to 625 nondemented adults (initially aged 35-80 years), participating in the population-based Betula study at two follow-up occasions. There was stability of sex differences across five age groups and over a 10-year period. Women performed at a higher level than men on episodic recall, face and verbal recognition, and semantic fluency, whereas men performed better than women on a task-assessing, visuospatial ability. Sex differences in cognitive functions are stable over a 10-year period and from 35 to 90 years of age.
ISSN:1382-5585
1744-4128
DOI:10.1080/13825580600678418