The brains of women are three years younger than men's. A study

Female versus male brain: at the same age, that of women is biologically three years younger than that of men. This applies to both older people and young people and could explain why women tend to be less vulnerable to neurodegenerative diseases.

This is what has just been announced by a survey conducted by the University of Washington at St. Louis, who especially wanted to point out why women were more likely to stay mentally more strong over the years and at an advanced age.

"We are only beginning to understand how various factors related to gender can influence the path of brain aging and its impact on the brain's vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases," says Manu Goyal, radiologist and lead author of the research. brain metabolism can help us understand some of the differences we see between men and women as we get older. "

Indeed, it is the metabolism itself that scientists undertook to examine the brain. volunteers (121 women and 84 men aged 20 to 82 years) using a positron emission tomography (called PET scan).

Our brain also works through sugar, but its way of using it changes. children and youth use some of their "brain fuel" in a process called aerobic glycolysis, which promotes brain development and maturation. The rest of the sugar is burned to fuel actions such as thought or movement. The glucose fraction used in the reaction is greatly reduced over time and reaches the lowest levels at 60 years of age.

This metabolic process is the "youth" of the brain, it is different between men and women. After identifying the amount of sugar consumed by each participant's brain through PET, the researchers developed an algorithm to determine an badociation between the participant's age and brain metabolism.

The results showed that the brain of women is on average 3. years younger than men and not only: the female brain would also be more active to recognize and treat the emotions of others. Understanding these differences will help to understand how different brain disorders and neurodegenerative diseases affect men and women differently.

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