Sex differences in brain activity and connectivity in late-life depression
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Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Sex Differences in Mouse Hippocampal Astrocytes after In-Vitro Ischemia
Published on: October 25, 2016
Xiaomin Zheng1,2, Ben Chen2, Mingfeng Yang2
1The First School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510515, China.
Background:
There are notable sex differences in the symptoms and treatment response of late-life depression (LLD); however, the underlying static and dynamic abnormalities in brain function that may drive these disparities remain unclear. This study was to investigate sex-specific aberrant brain activity in LLD.
Methods:
We recruited 75 LLD patients and 164 healthy controls (HCs). Static and dynamic metrics of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and functional connectivity (FC) were compared across four groups (LLD-female, LLD-male, HC-female, and HC-male). Correlation and moderation analyses were then used to examine whether sex moderated the associations between brain activity, cognitive impairment, and depressive symptoms.
Results:
First, significant interaction effects between diagnosis (LLD vs. HCs) and sex were found for ALFF in the left paracentral lobule, ReHo in the right superior temporal gyrus, and static FC (sFC) between the right superior temporal gyrus and left middle frontal gyrus. Second, in LLD-female, ReHo (right superior temporal gyrus) and sFC (right superior temporal gyrus-left middle frontal gyrus) correlated with weight, and ALFF (left paracentral lobule) correlated with visuospatial skills. Third, sex significantly moderated the relationships between ReHo (right superior temporal gyrus) and cognition, ALFF (left paracentral lobule) and depressive symptoms, and sFC (right superior temporal gyrus-left middle frontal gyrus) and depressive symptoms in the LLD group.
Conclusion:
Our study highlights sex differences in static brain activity related to cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms in LLD, indicating sex-specific neurobiological underpinnings for this disorder.
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