Men’s brains shrink faster than women’s; Researchers explore connection to Alzheimer’s.
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A new study may challenge what we thought we knew about brain aging.
Scientists have found that men’s brains shrink faster than women’s as they age, although women are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed more than 12,000 brain scans of almost 5,000 healthy people between 17 and 95 years old. Each participant had at least two MRI scans over time, allowing scientists to assess how their brains changed as they aged.
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Researcher Anne Ravndal from the University of Oslo in Norway said her team wanted to test whether the higher rate of Alzheimer’s in women could be related to gender differences in the brain.
“Women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease more often than men, and since aging is the main risk factor, we wanted to test whether the brains of men and women change differently with age,” she told News Digital.
A new study shows that women’s brains do not shrink as quickly as men’s in old age, although women still have higher rates of Alzheimer’s diagnosis. (iStock)
Men showed a faster rate of brain shrinkage in more regions than women. The study found that areas related to memory, emotions and sensory processing, such as the hippocampus and parahippocampal regions, were especially affected.
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The women’s brains, by contrast, appeared to maintain their size in more areas, although they showed slightly greater enlargement in the fluid-filled spaces of the brain, known as ventricles.
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“Our findings show that men experience greater brain structural deterioration in more regions, meaning that normal brain aging does not explain the sex difference in Alzheimer’s rates,” Ravndal said.
One hypothesis is that women undergo more checkups than men and are more frequently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. (iStock)
Because women are still diagnosed with the disease almost twice as often, the researchers concluded that changes in brain size alone cannot explain that gap.
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“The results, instead, point to other possible explanations, such as differences in longevity, diagnostic patterns or biological factors,” Ravndal said.
For example, women tend to live longer, which increases the period of time over which Alzheimer’s can develop. Changes in estrogen during menopause could also affect how brain cells age, experts say.
One possible reason for the higher rate of Alzheimer’s in women could be changes in estrogen and other hormones as they age. (iStock)
Some researchers have noted that women may simply be diagnosed more often because they are more likely to seek medical help when memory problems appear.
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One limitation of the study is that it only looked at healthy people, not those already showing signs of dementia, Ravndal acknowledged. Participants were also generally well educated and came from multiple study sites.
Ravndal emphasized that the work is not intended to guide individual health decisions.
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“The study does not attempt to make direct recommendations for individuals; rather, it helps refine scientific understanding by showing that normal brain aging does not explain the higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease among women,” he said.
The researcher added that “future work must identify the mechanisms that do this.”
Khloe Quill is a lifestyle production assistant at News Digital. She and the lifestyle team cover a range of topics including food and drink, travel and health.