Scientists have known that male and female mammals respond differently to starvation, with male cells tending to conserve protein while female calls lean toward fat conservation. But what happens in the brain, where cells need a complex set of nutrients to fire properly? A new study of rodents, thought to be a good analogue to humans, offers hints. The upshot: ‘When it comes to keeping brains alive, it seems nature has deemed that females are more valuable then males,’ the researcher said in a statement yesterday. Past studies looking at the effect of starvation on animal bodies have been done mostly by looking at nutrient-rich tissues like muscles, fat deposits, and the liver. Robert Clark and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center grew neurons taken from male and female rats or mice in lab dishes, then subjected them to nutrient starvation over 72 hours. After 24 hours, the male neurons experienced significantly more cell dysfunction. A key indicator called cell respiration decreased by more than 70 percent in male cells compared to 50 percent in female cells. Visually, male neurons showed more signs of autophagy, whereby a cell breaks down its own less vital […]