Females have narrower and less dense important brain structures that are crucial for signaling in the brain, making them more susceptible to damage from brain injuries, like concussion. When the signals between these brain structures weaken due to injury, it can lead to long-term cognitive deficits. The differences in the structure of male and female brains could be the reason why females are more prone to concussions and take longer to recover from the injury compared to males.
The article discusses the long-term cognitive deficits that can result from concussions, which occur when the signals between brain structures weaken due to the injury. A recent preclinical study led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, published in Acta Neuropathologica, suggests that the structural differences in male and female brains may explain why females are more susceptible to concussions and experience longer recovery times compared to males. Every year, around 50 million people globally suffer from concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI).There is nothing “mild” about this condition for the more than 15 percent of individuals who experience ongoing cognitive dysfunction, which includes trouble focusing, learning and remembering new information, and making decisions.
While males are the majority of emergency department visits for concussion, this has been mostly linked to their greater exposure to activities with a risk of head impacts compared to females. However, it has recently been noted that female athletes have a higher rate of concussion and seem to have worse outcomes than their male counterparts participating in the same sport.
According to senior author Douglas Smith, MD, clinicians have long noticed that women experience concussions more frequently than men in the same sports and take longer to recover cognitive function, but did not have an explanation for why. The differences in brain structures between men and women not only shed light on the reason for this gap, but also reveal biomarkers, such as axon protein fragments, that can be detected in the blood to assess the severity of the injury, track recovery, and ultimately aid in identifying the injury.
Researchers and scientists are working to find new treatments that can help patients repair damaged brain structures and improve cognitive function.
If you think of neurons as telephones that send messages between brain cells, then axons are like the lines that connect them, allowing communication across the brain. These axons come together to form bundles that make up the brain’s white matter and play a key role in learning and communication between different parts of the brain. Unfortunately, axons are fragile structures and can be easily damaged by concussions.
Communication between axons in the brain relies on sodium channels, which act as the brain’s electric grid. When axons are damaged, these sodium channels are affected, which can disrupt communication in the brain.The brain cells are damaged, leading to a disruption in brain communication. This disruption results in the cognitive problems people experience after a concussion.
A recent study looked at how male and female brains are affected differently after a concussion using large animal models. The researchers discovered that females had a higher number of smaller axons, which are more susceptible to injury. Additionally, females showed a greater loss of sodium channels in the brain after a concussion. These structural differences provide valuable insight into how brain injuries impact males and females differently.”Male and female brains may respond differently to concussion, which could provide valuable insights into other brain conditions that affect axons, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” Smith explained. “If female brains are more susceptible to damage from concussion, they may also be at greater risk for neurodegeneration. Further research is needed to understand how gender affects the structure and functions of the brain.”
The study received funding from the National Institutes of Health (R01NS092398, R01NS038104, R01NS094003, U54NS115322, K08NS110929, K23NS123340), the Department of Defense (HT94252311039, W81XWH-21-1-0590, HT9425-23-1-0981), and the Alzheimer’s Association (AARFD-23-11).
