Women's brain 4 years younger than men: Study

New Delhi : When it comes to brainpower, women have a clear advantage over men. A new study has revealed that a women's brain is four years younger than men's on average.

Brain scans for men and women aged 20 to 82 found female brains are 3.8 years biologically younger than men's.

The study is based on their use of glucose, and how it is burned for energy, which can affect brain performance.

As per findings in the new study, it looks like we have found an explanation why men see a bigger drop in their memory and language skills than women.

Dr Manu Goyal, who led the study from the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, said: 'We're just starting to understand how various sex-related factors might affect the trajectory of brain ageing and how that might influence the vulnerability of the brain to neurodegenerative diseases.

'Brain metabolism might help us understand some of the differences we see between men and women as they age.'

Over 205 men and women of actual age were used for the study of their brains.

Dr Goyal said: 'It's not that men's brains age faster - they start adulthood about three years older than women, and that persists throughout life.

'What we don't know is what it means. I think this could mean that the reason women don't experience as much cognitive decline in later years is because their brains are effectively younger, and we're currently working on a study to confirm that.'