Gender Differences in Fitness and Brain Function

Many studies show that cardiorespiratory fitness improvements boost brain fitness in later life. New research in the Journal of Applied Physiology (2019; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.01046.2018) reveals that effects may differ between men and women.

Researchers at York University, Toronto, and McGill University, Montreal, studied healthy older women and men to look for possible gender-based distinctions in the relationship between cardiovascular fitness and better brain network integrity. Study authors observed a stronger association in older men than in women.