A New Study: Does Bigger Brain Mean More Intelligence?

Results of a recent study have shown that intelligence, in fact, is determined by a variety of factors, and the brain's size isn't the most important.

We usually think "bigger is better." However, does big brain mean more intelligence? This question has appeared for a long time but no one can give an exact answer.

Recently, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have undertaken a research project, in cooperation with researchers at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, to find out what we often think is right or not.

To clarify this issue, the researchers carried out MRI tests on as many as over 13,600 participants. And the results confirmed a part of the rumors that those with a bigger brain could actually be smarter. However, there's a minimal relationship between brain size and intelligence.

As an assistant professor of marketing at Wharton, Gideon Nave revealed that according to statistics, who has a larger brain will do cognitive tests better than who has a small one. The brain's size only occupies "a small part of the picture," equivalent to 2% of the variability in the tests.

He added:

As such, the brain's size only accounts for 2% of the variation in intelligence, while other factors account for up to 98 percent.

Researchers suggest that size is less important than height, for example. Height is correlated with better cognitive performance. Also, different factors may be involved in intelligence, such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, height, and more.

In conclusion, size is only a tiny piece of the issue. And there are plenty of other factors of our brains which can make us more intelligent.