According to a recent study, there is another difference between men and women, now at the brain level. As reported by researchers, women’s brains develop age-related changes much slower than male brains. The scientists, however, did not reveal until whether the differences between men and women are due to evolution or diet, but the new study showed that women’s brains are with at least three years younger than men’s ones.
“We’re just starting to understand how various sex-related factors might affect the trajectory of brain aging and how that might influence the vulnerability of the brain to neurodegenerative diseases. Brain metabolism might help us understand some of the differences we see between men and women as they age,” said Manu Goyal of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Also, the new research revealed that male brains lose grey matter volume due to aging much faster than women’s brains.
Women’s Brains Develop Age-Related Changes Much Slower Than Male Brains
The recent study, which focused on the metabolism, established that women’s brains lose glucose much slower than male brains. Glucose is a significant element for a healthy brain but its metabolism at the brain’s level, known as aerobic glycolysis, drops considerably as we age. By the age of 60, the brain is still using sugars for its cognitive functions, but the whole process is reduced to its minimum.
As the new study concluded, in women’s brains, the aerobic glycolysis process slows down later than in male brains. And that’s because female brains are with at least three years younger than male ones.
“It’s not that men’s brains age faster – they start adulthood about three years older than women, and that persists throughout life. What we don’t know is what it means. I think this could mean that the reason women don’t experience as much cognitive decline in later years is that their brains are effectively younger, and we’re currently working on a study to confirm that,” Manu Goyal concluded.