Men with behavioral changes at increased risk for cognitive decline compared with women

Men who experience behavioral changes, such as apathy or hallucinations, are at a faster risk for cognitive decline compared with women, findings published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease showed.

Katrin Wolfova, a PhD student at Charles University in the Czech Republic, and colleagues assessed behavioral changes in cognitively healthy adults aged 50 years and older. According to a press release accompanying the study, this age group has been previously linked to a higher risk for developing brain problems.

The study included 8,181 participants with a mean age of 63 years (73% female) from those enrolled in an online U.K. study. Mild behavioral impairment was assessed by using the MBI Checklist, while cognition was assessed by digit span, paired with associate learning, spatial working memory, as well as verbal reasoning.

Eleven percent of female participants and 14% of male participants had mild behavioral impairment. Female participants exhibited less often symptoms of decreased motivation (45% vs. 36% male), impulse dyscontrol (40% female; 44% male) and social inappropriateness (12% female; 15% male).

Additionally, the associations of MBI domains with some measure of cognitive performance and decline were stronger in men compared with women, with the exception of the association of emotional dysregulation with the rate of cognitive decline for verbal reasoning, which presented only in female participants.

“Observing change in certain behavioral traits can help us to identify people who might already have a neurodegenerative disease before their cognitive functions decline,” Wolfova said in the release. “Being aware of differences between men and women in risk of developing dementia based on these behaviors is important for clinicians as well as researchers.”