Is men’s and women’s brains shrinking at different rates linked to Alzheimer’s? The research explains

Is men’s and women’s brains shrinking at different rates linked to Alzheimer’s? The research explains


Men’s brains lose volume faster than women’s as they age, but women are most affected by Alzheimer’s




If men’s brains tend to lose volume more rapidly than women’s as they age, what explains women’s higher rates of Alzheimer’s diagnoses? This is what research published in the scientific journal attempted to investigate further Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this Monday, 13. But the question is still far from being answered.

With the title Sex differences in healthy brain aging are unlikely to explain a higher prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease in women (in free translation), the study evaluated 12,638 longitudinal brain MRIs of 4,726 participants aged 17 to 95 years, we examined sex differences in structural brain changes over time.

Research has identified modest but systematic differences in age-related brain decline. “Men showed decline in a greater number of brain regions, including more cortical regions such as the parahippocampal cortex and several subcortical structures in older adults, while women showed decline in fewer regions with limited cortical changes and greater ventricular expansion,” they explain.

There are therefore more issues at stake. If it’s not the issue of volume loss that causes women to receive more Alzheimer’s diagnoses, they point out that this “likely stems from factors beyond differential rates of age-related brain atrophy.”

“We recognize that observed sex differences in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease diagnoses may reflect biological and sociocultural influences that cannot be disentangled here,” the scientists say.





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