A new study has found that the amount of blood flowing to a young man’s head before puberty drastically slows while a young girl’s blood flow increases.
Puberty, Business Insider reports, is the defining process of development.
The new findings in this study could be a stepping stone towards the creation of normal brain growth charts.
At around age 16, according to The University Herald, the cerebral blood flow declines in boys, but actually increases in girls.
“These results also show what every parent knows: boys and girls grow differently,” says Theodore D. Satterthwaite, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
The difference in the brain between males and females were in the parts that are linked to social behavior and emotion. These things could potentially explain the higher risk of depression and anxiety in women and higher risk of schizophrenia in men.
Studies prior to this have shown that there is a decrease in cerebral flow, but the effects of puberty are not fully known.

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