Sex influences whether hippocampal volumes mediate the relationship between depression and cognition in older adults without dementia: A UK Biobank study.

ABSTRACT: Depression is a modifiable risk factor for dementia; however, it remains unclear whether there are sex differences in how depression affects dementia risk. To better understand sex-specific differences in how depression confers risk of dementia, the link between depression, hippocampal volumes, and cognition was evaluated in a sample of older adults without dementia from the UK Biobank cohort. A total of 18,220 participants (women n = 9,474; men n = 8,746) were selected based on completion of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), structural MRI, and cognitive assessments. Causal mediation analyses were used to evaluate if the relationship between depression and cognition is mediated by the hippocampus differently by sex. Women reported greater depression severity than men. Hippocampal

SUBMITTER: Ortega NE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11846722 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature