A new study finds brain size has steadily increased for people born after the 1930s
A new study by researchers at UC Davis Health found human brains are getting larger. Study participants born in the 1970s had 6.6% larger brain volumes and almost 15% larger brain surface area than those born in the 1930s.
The researchers hypothesize the increased brain size may lead to an increased brain reserve, potentially reducing the overall risk of age-related dementias.
The findings were published in JAMA Neurology.
“The decade someone is born appears to impact brain size and potentially long-term brain health,” said Charles DeCarli, first author of the study. DeCarli is a distinguished professor of neurology and director of the UC Davis Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “Genetics plays a major role in determining brain size, but our findings indicate external influences — such as health, social, cultural and educational factors — may also play a role.”
or i don’t know maybe lead not being in everything helps as well
There was plenty of lead everywhere in the 70’s, maybe even more than in the 30’s.
Leaded gasoline says “yes”
Ehh
I feel like this is a correlation thing.
Our brains aren’t a set size, different areas can grow/shrink because of activity.
Favorite example was a study on London cabbies before and after they had to memorize every street in London. Even at an advanced age, the brain can keep developing. And we have more to learn than in the 70s, even outside of education. Just because tech advances faster than it used to.
That continued education is one of the best things to fight Alzheimer’s and dementia.
There are a lot of things that improved over the course of the 20th century that could be correlated here. Improved nutrition, reduction of poisons, handling of diseases that would affect children during key developmental periods, even having a higher daily experience of intellectually-stimulating activities could be looked in to. Also, is that about when we started using hormones/steroids in meat-producing animals?
This is interesting because brain size I would think might lead to more dementia and Alzheimer’s. At least when I was in college, the common thought was that brain swelling caused plaques to form because the brain was resting against the skull. Would love to hear from someone who knows more than me though.
I reckon it’s one thing when the brain is swelling and another when people are born with larger brains, because the latter would also mean larger skulls
Is it not implied that skulls are also getting larger proportionally?
