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Abstract
Sex differences influence brain morphology and physiology during both development and aging. Here we apply a machine learning algorithm to a multiparametric brain PET imaging dataset acquired in a cohort of 20- to 82-year-old, cognitively normal adults (n = 205) to define their metabolic brain age. We find that throughout the adult life span the female brain has a persistently lower metabolic brain age-relative to their chronological age-compared with the male brain. The persistence of relatively younger metabolic brain age in females throughout adulthood suggests that development might in part influence sex differences in brain aging. Our results also demonstrate that trajectories of natural brain aging vary significantly among individuals and provide a method to measure this.

Author information

Goyal MS1,2, Blazey TM3, Su Y3, Couture LE3, Durbin TJ3, Bateman RJ2, Benzinger TL3, Morris JC2, Raichle ME3,2, Vlassenko AG3.
1
Neuroimaging Laboratories, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110; goyalm@wustl.edu.
2
Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110.
3
Neuroimaging Laboratories, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110.