Human brains are much larger in younger generations, recent studies show. According to these findings, a specific region of the brain known as the hippocampus, responsible for memory and learning, increased its volume by 5.7% in recent years.
Members of Generation X also showed a nearly 8 percent increase in white matter volume and a nearly 15 percent expansion of gray matter surface compared to members of the Silent Generation, those born between 1930 and 1945.
Human brain, bigger in young people
The analysis involved examining the brains of more than 3,000 US citizens between the ages of 55 and 65.
The results showed that people born in the 1970s have an average total brain volume of 6.6% more than those born in the 1930s.
Moreover, new studies show that the human brain could gradually grow over time, and this could reduce the risk of dementia among younger generations.
“The decade in which one is born appears to influence brain size and potentially long-term brain health,” explains neuroscientist Charles DeCarli of the University of California Davis.
This is who led the research: “Genetics play a major role in determining brain size, but our findings indicate that external influences – such as health, social, cultural and educational factors – may also play a role.” , he also said.
Photo source: Robert Kneschke | Dreamstime.com
Dementia affects millions of people globally
Dementia currently affects a significant number of people globally.
With the aging of the world’s population, it is estimated that the number of diagnoses for this condition will increase threefold in the next three decades.
However, the risk of dementia appears to be decreasing for younger generations, who also have larger brains, possibly due to adopting healthier lifestyles and improved education.
Dementia is characterized by thinning of the brain’s gray matter, known as the cortex, which is involved in cognitive processes such as memory, learning and reasoning.
It is true that studies have shown that the brains of Alzheimer’s patients show better cognitive performance, thus supporting the hypothesis known as “brain reserve”.
Young people. Photo source: Razvan Valcaneantu EEC
The brain has grown from generation to generation
To investigate whether brain size may explain the reduced incidence of dementia among younger generations, DeCarli and his team analyzed data collected in the Framingham Heart Study, which monitored the health of Americans born between 1930 and 1980.
Between 1999 and 2019, when the participants were between 55 and 65 years old, they had magnetic resonance imaging of their brains. However, data from these images only became available in October 2023.
Analyzing these results, DeCarli and his colleagues found that younger generations have larger brain volumes.
The team didn’t just compare the brains of those born in the 1930s with those born in the 1970s. They also extended the analysis to the 1,145 adults of a similar age who were born in the 1940s and 1950s.
Their results again confirmed a steady and even increase in brain volume over decades—a finding the researchers consider to be of little impact at the individual level, but “likely to be significant at the population level,” according to sciencealert.com.
