Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 Avenue McGill College, Montréal, QC H3A 1G1, Canada; Brain Imaging Centre, Douglas Institute Research Centre, 6875 LaSalle Blvd Verdun, Montréal, QC H4H 1R3, Canada.
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada.
Front Neuroendocrinol. 2021 Jan;60:100879. doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2020.100879. Epub 2020 Nov 1.
Women represent ⅔ of the cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Current research has focused on differential risks to explain higher rates of AD in women. However, factors that reduce risk for AD, like cognitive/brain reserve, are less well explored. We asked: what is known about sex and gender differences in how reserve mitigates risk for AD? We conducted a narrative review of the literature, with keywords: "sex/gender differences", "cognitive/brain reserve", "Alzheimer's Disease", and the following cognitive reserve contributors: "education", "IQ", "occupation", "cognitive stimulation", "bilingualism", "socioeconomic status", "physical activity", "social support". Sixteen papers disaggregated their data by sex. Those papers observed sex and gender differences in reserve contributors. There is also evidence that greater reserve may be more beneficial in lowering AD risk in women, although more research is needed. We discuss how traditional reserve contributors are gendered and may not capture factors that support cognition in aging women.
女性占阿尔茨海默病（AD）病例的三分之二。目前的研究集中在差异风险上，以解释女性 AD 发病率较高的原因。然而，降低 AD 风险的因素，如认知/大脑储备，研究得还不够充分。我们想知道：关于储备如何减轻 AD 风险的性别差异有哪些已知信息？我们对文献进行了叙述性综述，使用的关键词是：“性别差异”、“认知/大脑储备”、“阿尔茨海默病”，以及以下认知储备的影响因素：“教育”、“智商”、“职业”、“认知刺激”、“双语”、“社会经济地位”、“体育活动”、“社会支持”。有 16 篇论文根据性别对数据进行了细分。这些论文观察到了储备影响因素中的性别差异。也有证据表明，更大的储备可能更有利于降低女性患 AD 的风险，但还需要更多的研究。我们讨论了传统的储备影响因素如何带有性别色彩，并且可能无法捕捉到支持老年女性认知的因素。
