Sex-specific Genetic Architecture of Late-life Memory Performance

Background: Women demonstrate a memory advantage when cognitively healthy yet lose this advantage to men in Alzheimer's disease. However, the genetic underpinnings of this sex difference in memory performance remain unclear.

Methods: We conducted the largest sex-aware genetic study on late-life memory to date (N = 11,942; N = 15,641). Leveraging harmonized memory composite scores from four cohorts of cognitive aging and AD, we performed sex-stratified and sex-interaction genome-wide association studies in 24,216 non-Hispanic White and 3367 non-Hispanic Black participants.

Results: We identified three sex-specific loci (rs67099044-CBLN2, rs719070-SCHIP1/IQCJ-SCHIP), including an X-chromosome locus (rs5935633-EGL6/TCEANC/OFD1), that associated with memory. Additionally, we identified heparan sulfate signaling as a sex-specific pathway and found sex-specific genetic correlations between memory and cardiovascular, immune, and education traits.

Discussion: This study showed memory is highly and comparably heritable across sexes, as well as highlighted novel sex-specific genes, pathways, and genetic correlations that related to late-life memory.

Highlights: Demonstrated the heritable component of late-life memory is similar across sexes. Identified two genetic loci with a sex-interaction with baseline memory. Identified an X-chromosome locus associated with memory decline in females. Highlighted sex-specific candidate genes and pathways associated with memory. Revealed sex-specific shared genetic architecture between memory and complex traits.

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