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Age and gender interactions on verbal memory performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2003

Joel H. Kramer ,
Kristine Yaffe ,
Jeanne Lengenfelder  and
Dean C. Delis
Joel H. Kramer
Affiliation:
University of California, San Francisco Medical Center
Kristine Yaffe
Affiliation:
University of California, San Francisco Medical Center Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco
Jeanne Lengenfelder
Affiliation:
Kessler Medical Rehabilitation Research & Education Corp, West Orange, New Jersey
Dean C. Delis
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego Medical Center
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Abstract

Age and gender effects on verbal episodic memory are well established. However, the possibility of interactions between age and gender has been raised by studies linking estrogen and verbal memory performance, and by research suggesting gender differences in age-related cortical atrophy. We evaluated whether age by gender interactions in verbal memory were present. Subjects within three years of the median age of menopause were excluded from a large cohort of normal subjects, resulting in a younger sample (16–47 years) of 288 men and 285 women, and an older sample (55–89 years) of 201 men and 245 women. All subjects were administered the CVLT-2, a multiple-trial list-learning task. Verbal memory was negatively correlated with age for younger men, older men, and older women, but not for younger women. Multivariate analyses indicated age by gender interactions on memory for the younger group but not the older group. Results indicate that verbal memory declines with age for younger men but not younger women, whereas both older men and older women show age-related declines. These findings are consistent with hypotheses linking estrogen and verbal memory performance, and with imaging data suggesting that age-related hippocampal atrophy is found in younger men but not younger women. The role of estrogen on cognition in normal aging warrants further study. (JINS, 2003, 9, 97–102.)

Keywords

Verbal memoryCVLT-IIAgeGender
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , January 2003 , pp. 97 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © The International Neuropsychological Society 2003

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