More women develop senile dementia than men, both in the Netherlands and globally. Dementia affects functions such as the ability to remember facts and the speed with which information is processed. Generally speaking, functions decline gradually long before dementia arises.
Brain functions measured
Scientists at RIVM and VU Amsterdam have measured the memory and speed of information processing of ten thousand men and women aged 45 years and older over a period of 20 years. They used the Doetinchem Cohort Study and the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam for this research. The results have been published in the academic journal Gerontology.
These differences may decrease in the future
When looking at participants born later, after the Second World War roughly speaking, women have a bigger advantage in terms of memory and speed of information processing. “There are various reasons for this, including the fact that the level of education, particularly among women, has risen in recent decades. This relatively higher cognitive reserve in women can mean that the difference in the occurrence of dementia between men and women may contract in the future.”
Middle-aged women have better memories than men
19 January 2022
Middle-aged women have better memories than middle-aged men. They also process information faster than their male counterparts. Over the years, however, both functions deteriorate faster in women than in men. This has emerged from research carried out by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and VU Amsterdam.