Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: This is a review of cognitive decline in male ageing.

Methods: Literature review and analysis of cognitive data from the Healthy Old People of Edinburgh (born 1905–1919), Lothian Birth Cohort 1921 and Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 studies.

Results: Cognitive scores in men increased relative to those of women between childhood and late adulthood, but changes in old age were little affected by sex once other factors, such as education, were adjusted for.

Conclusions: Male cognitive ageing differs from women’s in early and mid-adulthood, but these differences mostly disappear later in life.