Men’s brains shrink faster than women’s, new Alzheimer’s research shows
New research reveals lifetime Alzheimer’s risk for men and women
- New research indicates that men's brains shrink faster than women's, despite women having a higher lifetime risk of Alzheimer's disease.
- A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences analysed over 12,000 brain MRIs from nearly 5,000 participants aged 17 to 95.
- Researchers found that men experienced greater structural brain decline across more regions, including those associated with memory, emotion, and sensory processing.
- The Alzheimer's Association states that the lifetime risk for Alzheimer's at age 45 is one in five for women compared to one in 10 for men.
- The findings suggest that normal brain ageing does not fully explain the sex difference in Alzheimer's rates, pointing instead to other factors such as longevity, diagnostic patterns, or biological differences.