NPR

Scans Show Women's Brains Remain Youthful As Male Brains Wind Down

Researchers say the metabolism of a woman's brain remains higher than a man's throughout a lifetime. And that may help with late-life creativity and learning.
A cross section of the human brain shows fiber tracts involved in aging.

Women tend to have more youthful brains than their male counterparts – at least when it comes to metabolism.

While age reduces the metabolism of all brains, women retain a higher rate throughout the lifespan, researchers reported Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Females had a younger brain age relative to males," says, an assistant professor of radiology and neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And that may mean women are better equipped to learn and be creative in later life, he says.

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