The brains of women would be younger than mens

An American study states that women's brains appear to be three years younger than men's, which explains why women retain good cognitive abilities in old age. Sex would influence the aging of the brain at the metabolic level.

The brains of men and women show morphological differences; for example, men have larger brains (see article below). But there are also differences in cerebral aging, according to this new study from Washington University in St. Louis. The fault with the metabolism of the brain which seems different in the man and the woman.

The brain needs glucose for its function, but the way it uses it varies over time. In babies and children whose brains are maturing, a metabolic pathway, aerobic glycolysis, is particularly involved. Then, in adolescents and adults, aerobic glycolysis is less and less common in the brain and, after age 60, its proportion reaches a low level.

In general, the brain's metabolism decreases with the normal aging of the body. But are there differences between men and women during metabolic aging of the brain? To find out, scientists studied 84 men and 121 women, or 205 people aged 20 to 82 years. Participants spent a PET scan - a tomography by emission tomography ( PET ) - to measure the flow of oxygen and glucose, so glucose metabolism in the brain.

Using this data, the researchers created an algorithm that predicted men's age from the metabolism of their brains. Next, they applied this algorithm to predict the age of women's brains, based on data from their brain metabolism. As a result, the algorithm predicted women to be 3.8 years younger than their actual age.

The female brain remains metabolically younger

Then the researchers did the opposite: they generated an algorithm from women's data to predict cerebral age, and then applied it to men. This time, the algorithm gave men a brain age 2.4 years older than reality. For Manu Goyal, lead author of this study published in PNAS, "The mean difference in cerebral age between men and women is significant and reproducible. "
Even in the youngest women, who were less than 30 years old, this relative youth of the brain was visible. So for the researcher,   "It's not that the brains of men are aging faster: they start in adulthood by being about three years older than women's, and this lasts a lifetime. "

Sex could, therefore, influence the metabolic evolution of the brain with age:  "I think it could mean that women do not experience as much cognitive decline in the last few years because their brains are actually younger, and we work currently on a study to confirm it. " The researchers followed a cohort of adults to see if those who have a brain that appears younger are less concerned with cognitive problems as they age.

To keep the brain young, it is advisable to have a healthy lifestyle, to cure his diet and exercise physically.

WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER

• During aging, the brain's metabolism decreases.
• Researchers have studied the cerebral metabolism of 200 adults.
• Globally, women's brains are still younger than men's, from a metabolism point of view.

In short: is the brain differences in men and women?

Article by Agnès Roux published on February 14, 2014

Is the brain a sexed organ? Yes, if we believe the science. In a recent review, a British team summarized all brain differences between men and women discovered over the last two decades. This global assessment could help neurobiologists better understand certain mental pathologies.

Whatever you say, men and women are very different and do not generally have the same tastes, desires, skills, behaviors, and interests. Why? This controversial subject is the subject of many serious scientific studies, particularly with regard to the structure of the brain. In order to take stock, researchers from the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom) have examined in detail the literature of the last 20 years. In total, they looked at 126 scientific publications dealing with this topic at all stages of life, from birth to 80 years. Their findings, published in the journal  Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, recall the dissimilarities between the brains of women and men.
The major difference is in size: on average, men have larger brains than women. In detail, the excess volume in men is 12% for the skull, 9% for the gray matter, 13% for the white matter and 9% for the cerebellum. The authors also observed a structural contrast between the brains of both sexes. In fact, the density and volume of certain tissues are greater in certain areas of the brain of men, whereas they are in other brain areas in women.

"Cerebral differences between the two sexes affect certain regions, such as the limbic system, involved in the development of psychiatric disorders such as autism, schizophrenia or depression," says John Suckling, one of the authors. This analysis could help us better understand why some of these pathologies develop in one genus rather than the other. "