In fact, brain structure is a more reliable marker of smarts than brain size. On average, women have thicker cortices – the wrinkly, outer layer of the brain, responsible for higher-level functions – and thicker cortices have been associated with higher IQ scores.
The wrinkles, according to U.C. Santa Barbara (UCSB) postdoctoral scholar Eyal Karzbrun, are vital to our development because they create a greater surface area giving our neurons, or brain nerve cells, more space to create connections and deliver information.
Wrinkles also help larger brains keep their white matter fibers that link different areas of the cortex in order. As brains grow larger, white matter fibers must stretch longer. The wrinkles help keep these fibers packed more closely together: they are, Zimmer writes, “a natural result of a bigger brain.”
Researchers from Harvard used a hydrogel model to show that folding reduces instability from differential growth rates of the inner and outer layers of the brain. This buckling happens because folding maximizes the brain's surface-to-volume ratio, or the amount of surface area the brain has relative to its size.
While every brain is unique, some brain folding patterns can look quite different for individuals with clinical disorders like autism, schizophrenia, epilepsy or bipolar disorder.
Lissencephaly, which literally means "smooth brain," is a rare, gene-linked brain malformation characterized by the absence of normal convolutions (folds) in the cerebral cortex and an abnormally small head (microcephaly). In the usual condition of lissencephaly, children usually have a normal sized head at birth.
smooth-brained (comparative more smooth-brained, superlative most smooth-brained) (of an animal) Having a brain which is naturally smooth in appearance. (of a human) Lissencephalic; having a brain which lacks convolutions due to malformation. (slang, derogatory) Stupid, foolish; ignorant.
Lissencephaly is a rare genetic brain condition. It causes the brain's outer layer to appear smooth. Other symptoms include slow cognitive development, intellectual disability, an abnormally small head, muscle spasms, seizures, and deformed hands, fingers, and toes.
Brain size has a surprisingly small impact on intelligence and behavior. Key Points: Having an unusually large brain doesn't necessarily make someone a genius, and large-scale research suggests only a slight and tenuous relationship between brain size and intelligence.
Decades ago, scientists conducted testing on the person considered to be one of the most famous geniuses of all time: Albert Einstein. They found that there was no difference between how large his brain was compared to the brain size of individuals of average intelligence.
Some functions like memory, processing speed, and spatial awareness deteriorate as we age, but other skills like verbal abilities and abstract reasoning actually improve.
The human brain attains peak processing power and memory around age 18. After studying how intelligence changes over time, scientists found that participants in their late teens had the highest performance.
In seniors, both sides of the brain are sharing the task equally. A host of studies in the last decade have shown that the more mature brain actually has advantages over its younger counterpart.
Researchers have previously shown that a person's IQ is highly influenced by genetic factors, and have even identified certain genes that play a role. They've also shown that performance in school has genetic factors. But it's been unclear whether the same genes that influence IQ also influence grades and test scores.
As they describe in the journal eLife, larger neurons in the so-called temporal lobe of the brain that generate electrical signals with higher speed are related to faster processing rates and intelligence level as assessed in standard IQ testing.
In general, larger brains have folds while smaller brains do not, even small mammals like rats or mice have smooth brains. In humans, a lissencephalic brain is one without gyri and sulci and is a result of a rare disorder that is characterised by mental abnormalities.
Koalas, like many other primitive animals, have a smooth (or lissencephalic) brain, meaning that their brains have no folds! This is why koalas are often unable to perform complex behaviours.
Trevor passed away last year after going his entire life without a brain. He suffered from a rare condition called hydranencephaly, whereby the cerebral hemispheres are replaced entirely with cerebrospinal fluid. People with hydranencephaly usually survive for up to 12 weeks, which made Trevor's case so remarkable.
Wrinkles increase the surface are for neurons. (Image credit: Elizabeth Atkinson, Washington University in St. Louis.) The reason our brains have that wrinkly, walnut shape may be that the rapid growth of the brain's outer brain — the gray matter — is constrained by the white matter, a new study shows.
Lissencephaly is rare. Researchers estimate that lissencephaly affects about 1 out of every 100,000 babies.
In healthy volunteers, total brain volume weakly correlates with intelligence, with a correlation value between 0.3 and 0.4 out of a possible 1.0. In other words, brain size accounts for between 9 and 16 percent of the overall variability in general intelligence.
The origins of the monkey mind date back to the Buddha. The expression is used to describe the inability to quiet our mind when there are many thoughts, ideas, and worries swirling around in our head.
In normal human brains, large grooves, called fissures; small ones, called sulci, and outward folds, called gyri, follow a standard plan from person to person.
Scientists have long known that our ability to think quickly and recall information, also known as fluid intelligence, peaks around age 20 and then begins a slow decline.
Brain Maturity Extends Well Beyond Teen Years : NPR. Brain Maturity Extends Well Beyond Teen Years Under most laws, young people are recognized as adults at age 18. But emerging science about brain development suggests that most people don't reach full maturity until the age 25.