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Bigger Brains Make Smarter People Study Says

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the hector-hammond-and-the-leader dept.

udderly writes "People with bigger brains are smarter according to a Virginia Commonwealth University industrial and organizational psychologist, Michael A. McDaniel, Ph.D. McDaniel, who is a professor in management at VCU's School of Business. He reviewed 26 previous studies comparing brain size and intelligence and found that brain volume has a strong correlation to intelligence. According to McDaniel, 'for all age and sex groups, it is now very clear that brain volume and intelligence are related.' So, how big of a hat do you wear?"

2 of 426 comments (clear)

  1. Einstein: The exception to the rule? by WebHostingGuy · · Score: 5, Informative

    As several sites have suggested 1, 2, 3, Einstein's brain fell in the range of normal for all measurements, except for the portion known as the inferior parietal lobes, located in the middle of the brain. This middle portion was 15% wider and had no groove.

    So maybe the correct conclusion is not that bigger is better, but only the sections that matter. Remember, its not the size of the wand, its the magic in it that counts.

    --
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  2. too simplistic a theory by yagu · · Score: 4, Informative

    As one other poster noted, Einstein had a brain that only fell in the range of "normal", giving lie to the theory size alone is an indicator of likely intelligence. Here's another interesting article I coincidentally read a couple days ago.

    A couple of interesting things to take from this article:

    • brain size relates closely to gender
    • there are notable physiological differences in brains along gender lines
    • however, there are not noticable differences in intelligence between genders
    • but, there are differences in how intelligence manifests between the genders.

    Before drawing conclusions on brain size and correlation with intelligence therein, read this article... it sheds far more light on this discussion than does the research "summary".

    Interestingly, even though men and women have fairly significant differences in brain sizes, this article shows that women's brains develop differently than mens, with density in different regions and layers possibly offsetting size differences. I'll not go over the entire article, read it.... it's good.

    Sidebar: Oh, and by the way, my brain is so small, I use the extra space inside my skull to store my CD collection.