Sex-dependent changes in emotional memory associated with cerebral blood flow alterations during Alzheimer’s disease progression

• Published in: Neuroradiology Vol. 65; no. 4; pp. 751 - 763
• Main Authors: Gao, Ziwen, Zhou, Shanshan, Zhu, Wanqiu, Li, Hui, Huang, Ziang, Ji, Yang, Li, Xiaoshu, Yu, Yongqiang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - diagnostic imaging; Alzheimer's disease; Analysis of covariance; Arousal; Blood flow; Cerebral blood flow; Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology; Cognitive ability; Cognitive Dysfunction - complications; Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnostic imaging; Correlation analysis; Disease Progression; Emotions; Female; Females; Functional Neuroradiology; Gender differences; Group effects; Humans; Imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Males; Medical imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Memory; Memory tasks; Mental task performance; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neuroimaging; Neurology; Neuroradiology; Neurosciences; Neurosurgery; Pathogenesis; Pictures; Radiology; Sex differences; Spin labeling; Emotional memory; Amnestic mild cognitive impairment; Alzheimer’s disease; Cerebral blood flow; Sex difference; Arterial spin-labeled
• ISSN: 0028-3940; 1432-1920
• DOI: 10.1007/s00234-022-03099-1

Purpose Sex differences in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression provide clues to pathogenesis and better patient management. We examined sex differences in emotional memory among AD patients, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) patients, and healthy controls (HCs) as well as potential associations with altered regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Methods The recognition memory task with emotional pictures was applied to evaluate enhancement of emotional memory (EEM) and 3D pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling MRI was performed to measure the rCBF in 74 AD patients (41 females), 74 aMCI patients (45 females), and 74 HCs (43 females). Group differences in EEM were tested by two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with repeated measures. The main effects of clinical group and sex as well as group × sex interactions on rCBF were assessed by two-way ANCOVA. Correlation analyses were conducted to investigate associations between EEM and rCBF. Results With disease progression, EEM gradually disappeared. Among aMCI patients, females exhibited a greater index of recollection (Pr) for positive/high-arousal and negative/low-arousal pictures versus neutral pictures ( P  = 0.005, P  = 0.003), while males exhibited a greater Pr for negative/high-arousal versus neutral pictures ( P  = 0.001). There were significant sex × group effects on rCBF in left inferior parietal, supramarginal, superior temporal and middle temporal gyri, and rCBF of left inferior parietal gyrus was correlated with Pr for positive/high-arousal pictures among female aMCI patients ( r  = 0.584, q  = 0.005). Conclusion Males and females exhibit distinct changes in EEM associated with altered rCBF, which should be considered in future neuroimaging studies.