Schedule of Events | Symposia

Exploring Sex Differences in Late-Life Depression and Genetic Alzheimer’s Disease Risk

Poster Session D - Monday, March 31, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Taline Bicakci¹, Claire Murphy²; ¹San Diego State University, ²University of California, San Diego

Late-life depression (LLD) is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that disproportionately impacts females. Females also exhibit increased vulnerability to AD and cognitive decline, particularly when carrying the Apolipoprotein-E (ApoE) ε4 allele, a biomarker implicated in AD and LLD-related cognitive dysfunction. Given that sex-specific factors may modulate the relationship between depression and cognitive decline in preclinical AD, examining whether depressed females exhibit worse cognitive function than depressed males in older adulthood is critical. This study uses data from the Rancho Bernardo Study (RBS) of Healthy Aging, focusing on a 1992-1996 subsample of 671 non-demented adults aged 50+. Participants completed the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and RBS questions on emotional function and life balance. Multiple linear regression models assessed main effects of depressive/depressive-like symptoms and interaction effects of depressive/depressive-like symptoms and ε4 status on cognitive function for each sex, while controlling for education, age, and antidepressant/anti-anxiety medication usage. Only among males, poor life balance significantly predicted worse cognitive function (β = 657.957, p = 0.031), and only among male ε4 carriers, poor emotional function significantly predicted worse cognitive function (β = -3278.764, p = 0.002). Results indicate that males, particularly male ε4 carriers, with depressive-like symptoms (i.e., poor life balance, emotional function) exhibit worse cognitive function. The unexpected findings may be attributed to reduced help-seeking behavior in men, which could hinder the development of coping strategies to mitigate the maladaptive effects of depression on cognitive function. NIH grant #R01AG062006 National Institute on Aging to CM.

Topic Area: EMOTION & SOCIAL: Development & aging