The average senior in the U.S. has a brain that works better than the average senior in England, according to a new study.

Kenneth Langa and his team compared about 8,300 people over age 65 in the U.S. with more than 5,200 people in Britain. The groups were meant to be representative samples of their nations.

The U.S. advantage in "brain health" was greatest for those age 85 and older, a news release on the work said.

In short, 75-year-olds in the U.S. scored about the same as 65-year-olds in England.

The tests were graded on a 24-point scale. The average score for people ages 65-74 in England was 12.5. In the U.S., it was 13.8.

For those over 85, the U.K. score was 8.3; in the U.S. it was 10.1.

Langa said higher levels of education and net worth in the U.S. may be part of what boosts scores. People in the U.S. also had lower levels of depression. About half of the U.S. seniors said they don't drink alcohol at all. Only 15.5 percent of the people in the U.K. said that.

"The better cognitive performance of U.S. adults was surprising since U.S. adults had a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, which are generally associated with cognitive decline and poorer mental function," Langa said.

The report was published in the June 25 peer-reviewed journal BMC Geriatrics.