Generation Z and Alpha may have larger brains than people born 100 years ago, however, studies have indicated that they also have the lowest IQ of previous generations.
Researchers at the University of California (UC) Davis Health studied different brain sizes of people born between 1930 and 1970, and found a 6.6 percent increase in brains among Generation X compared to the Silent Generation.
The team theorized that growth could be caused by external influences such as external health, social, cultural and educational factors and could reduce the risk of age-related dementia.
This comes as more recent studies have indicated that the IQ scores of even younger generations have declined in recent decades, which researchers have linked to an over-reliance on phones and the internet.
MRIs performed over 100 years showed that brain size has increased by 6.6 percent and could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s in younger generations.
People’s brain volume has increased steadily since the 1930s, but reports indicate that it does not affect a person’s level of intelligence.
Brain size does not necessarily make people more intelligent, and research has suggested that there is only a slight relationship between the two.
Neuroscientists have found that extra brain mass actually accomplishes very little when it comes to intelligence and instead serves to allow people to store more lifelong memories, according to Psychology Today.
However, the latest findings could be a contributing factor to why younger generations have a lower risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s.
The new study was conducted over 75 years and found that the brain consistently grew by 6.6 percent in people in the 1970s compared to those born in the 1930s.
The brain of the current generation measures about 1,400 milliliters in volume, but the average brain volume of people born in the 1930s was 1,234 milliliters.
The researchers reported that factors such as higher educational attainment and better management of medical problems could explain why people’s brains have grown over the decades.
“The decade in which a person is born appears to affect brain size and, potentially, long-term brain health,” said Charles DeCarli, first author of the study and professor of neurology at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the University of California. University of California at Davis.
The researchers looked at patterns of cardiovascular and other diseases in people born in the 1930s and introduced brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) testing in people from the second and third generations of the original 5,200 participants.
The MRIs were performed between 1999 and 2019 on people born between the years 1930 and 1970 and consisted of more than 3,000 participants with an average age of 57 years.
People ages 18 to 22 experienced the biggest drop in IQ tests between 2006 and 2018.
The area of the brain that grew the most was the cortical surface that controls motor activities and sensory information.
They reported that the area increased by 15 percent in volume and that the brain region involved in learning and memory, called the hippocampus, had also increased in size.
However, the number of people affected by Alzheimer’s disease has decreased by 20 percent since the 1970s, according to a separate study, and researchers now say that increased brain size may be to blame.
“Larger brain structures, like those observed in our study, may reflect better brain development and health,” DeCarli said.
“A larger brain structure represents a greater brain reserve and may buffer the late-life effects of age-related brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and related dementias.”
Brain growth in younger generations could increase brain connectivity, according to the study, which could lead to more accurate and efficient performance on tasks.
However, although researchers report that the brain grows with each generation, the IQs of Generations Z and Alpha have dropped by at least two points, according to studies in Finland, France, the United Kingdom and other countries.
TO study 2023 reported that IQ scores in the US have also declined, but did not specify the exact drop, adding that the decline could be due to disruptions to in-person learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The researchers also said that increased social media use could be to blame, as skills such as verbal reasoning, visual problem solving and number series testing have declined.
Academic professor and science presenter Jim Al-Khalili previously told Dailymail.com in 2022 that despite our “vastly increased scientific knowledge… the human brain has not become bigger, more efficient or better than it was thousands of years ago.” “.
This is in direct contrast to more recent findings that the human brain is getting larger, but also raises the question of how cognitive development is increasing as Generation Z and Alpha struggle to reach the same IQ levels as past generations. .