When it comes to the battle of the brains, ladies rule.
A new study reveals that female brains, on average, act nearly four years younger than their chronological age while men's brains act more than two years older.
The study, which included 84 males and 121 females, notes the subjects underwent positron emission tomography scans to measure the flow of glucose and oxygen in their brains.
The brain needs sugar as fuel. How it metabolizes glucose indicates a great deal about its metabolic age.
Subjects ranged from their 20s to 80. The results showed the female brains were metabolically younger than their counterparts, revealed the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
An algorithm indicated women's brains were about 3.8 years more spry than their chronological ages, while the males' acted 2.4 years older than their true age.
"It's not that men's brains age faster," said senior author Manu Goyal, assistant professor of radiology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. "They start adulthood about three years older than women, and that persists throughout life."
One possible theory is that hormones could be shaping brain metabolism at a younger age, putting females on a more youthful pattern than males, who develop later.
Scientists hope to learn if brain metabolic differences could play a protective role for women, who tend to score higher on problem solving and cognitive tests for reason and memory.
"It could mean that the reason women don't experience as much cognitive decline in later years is because their brains are effectively younger," said Goyal.
