BB.lv: Human brain enlargement recorded

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have documented brain growth in humans throughout the 20th century. According to the results of scientific work, published in the journal JAMA Neurology, people born in the 1970s had 6.6 percent more brain volume and nearly 15 percent more brain surface area than those born in the 1930s.

Researchers used brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of participants in the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), which began in 1948 in Framingham, Massachusetts, to analyze patterns of cardiovascular and other diseases. The original cohort consisted of 5209 men and women aged 30 to 62 years. The study spanned 75 years and now includes second and third generations of participants.

MRI scans were performed between 1999 and 2019 on FHS participants born between the 1930s and 1970s. The brain study involved 3,226 participants with an average age of about 57 years at the time of the MRI. A steady increase in intracranial volume over decades has been identified. The average volume for those born in the 1930s was 1,234 milliliters, and for those born in the 1970s it was 1,321 milliliters, an increase of about 6.6 percent.

Participants born in the 1970s had an average surface area of ​​2,104 square centimeters, compared to 2,056 square centimeters for participants born in the 1930s. Structures such as white matter, gray matter and the hippocampus also increased in size.

Neuroscientists suggest that increasing brain size may lead to increased brain reserve, potentially reducing the overall risk of age-related dementia.