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Related Experiment Videos

Brain size does not predict general cognitive ability within families.

P T Schoenemann1, T F Budinger, V M Sarich

  • 1Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6398, USA. ptschoen@sas.upenn.edu

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|April 26, 2000
PubMed
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Sibling brain size and cognitive ability correlations are minimal within families, suggesting environmental factors, not just genetics, influence this link. Direct biological associations may be small but sufficient for hominid brain evolution.

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive psychology

Background:

  • Hominid brain size has significantly increased despite evolutionary costs.
  • This suggests a substantial adaptive benefit, possibly enhanced cognitive ability.
  • Previous studies show a moderate correlation between brain size and cognition, but may confound environmental and genetic factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between neuroanatomy and cognitive performance, controlling for familial environmental influences.
  • To determine if within-family variations in brain size correlate with cognitive abilities.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure neuroanatomy.
  • Correlated within-family (WF) sibling differences in brain measures with WF cognitive test scores.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Analyzed data from 36 sibling pairs.

    • Main Results:

    • Within-family correlations between overall neuroanatomy and general cognitive ability were negligible.
    • Moderate correlations were observed between prefrontal cortex volume and performance on the Stroop test.
    • Findings suggest nongenetic factors significantly contribute to brain volume-cognitive ability associations.

    Conclusions:

    • The direct genetic or biological link between brain size and general cognitive ability may be weaker than previously assumed.
    • Environmental influences play a crucial role in the observed brain size-cognition relationship.
    • Even small direct biological associations could be sufficient drivers of hominid brain evolution.