Graduation Year
2025
Date of Submission
12-2024
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Neuroscience
Reader 1
Poortata Lalwani
Reader 2
Findley Finseth
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2024 Angela C Gushue
Abstract
Cognitive decline and aging-related disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, disproportionately affect patients based on sex, but the mechanisms underlying these skewed effects are unknown. This proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (H-MRS) study seeks to understand if sex disparities in aging exist in neurometabolite concentrations of older adult brains. Sixty-seven participants, ranging from 60 to 85 years of age, underwent the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and H-MRS of the brain. Concentrations of myo-inositol, total creatine, total NAA, and total choline were calculated in the dorsal posterior cingulate cortex, left hippocampal cortex, left medial temporal gyrus, left primary sensorimotor cortex, and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The extensive number of variables inspired dimensionality reduction approaches, such as Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis. Each dimension primarily correlated to several metabolites in one brain region. Logistic regression with 10,000 permutation significance tests and multiple regression were conducted with dimension scores to evaluate their relationship with sex, age, and MoCA. Our evidence suggests that a collection of metabolites in the medial temporal gyrus is a reliable predictor of sex. We also found that hippocampal and dorsal posterior cingulate metabolites are associated with age and MoCA, respectively. These three findings emphasize the impact of sex, age, and cognition on neurochemical profiles, specifically in certain brain regions. This work is critical to understanding how sex plays a role in aging and how we can use this knowledge to empower geriatric patients with enhanced diagnostic medicine and personalized care.
Recommended Citation
Gushue, Angela, "A Spectroscopy Study of the Brain: Exploring Sex Differences in Healthy Older Adults" (2025). CMC Senior Theses. 3851.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3851
Included in
Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience Commons, Other Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Psychiatry and Psychology Commons
