Big-brained people are smarter: A meta-analysis of the relationship between in vivo brain volume and intelligence

McDaniel, Michael A.

doi:10.1016/j.intell.2004.11.005

Cited by 460 publications

(331 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Other findings correlating complex behaviors in mammals, birds, and other animal groups to larger overall brain size may be attributed to increased investment in brain areas involved in higher-order processing (32)(33)(34). Furthermore, if the pattern that we found holds true in vertebrates, it may provide an alternative explanation for why both whole brain size and the size of a higher-order brain center (i.e., neocortex) predict cognitive ability to such a similar extent among primates and in humans (1).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps

O’Donnell

Clifford

Molina³

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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We compared species mean data on the size of functionally distinct brain regions to test the relative rates at which investment in higher-order cognitive processing (mushroom body calyces) versus peripheral sensory processing (optic and antennal lobes) increased with increasing brain size. Subjects were eusocial paper wasps from queen and worker castes of 10 species from different genera. Relative investment in central processing tissue increased with brain size at a higher rate than peripheral structure investment, demonstrating that tissue devoted to higher-order cognitive processing is more constrained by brain size. This pattern held for raw data and for phylogenetically independent contrasts. These findings suggest that there is a minimum necessary investment in peripheral sensory processing brain tissue, with little to gain from additional investment. In contrast, increased brain size provides opportunities to invest in additional higher-order cognitive processing tissue. Reproductive castes differed within species in brain tissue investment, with higher central-to-peripheral brain tissue ratios in queens than in workers. Coupled with previous findings that paper wasp queen, but not worker, brain architecture corresponds to ecological and social variation, queen brain evolution appears to be most strongly shaped by cognitive demands, such as social interactions. These evolutionary patterns of neural investment echo findings in other animal lineages and have important implications, given that a greater investment in higherorder processing has been shown to increase the prevalence of complex and flexible behaviors across the animal kingdom.Hymenoptera | mushroom bodies | social brain | Vespidae A s brains evolve, both relative expansion of specific brain regions and general increases in absolute brain size can enable changes in animal cognitive capacity (1). Of particular note is the frequent convergent evolution of central brain regions that perform higher-order cognitive processing. Larger central processing centers are associated with enhanced capacity for learning, memory, and behavioral innovation among species (1-3). In primates, increased investment in higher-order cognitive processing structures, such as the neocortex and hippocampus, has been linked to increased cognitive performance (4), and the neocortex is five times larger in primates than in insectivores after accounting for differences in whole brain size (5). Increased hippocampal size in passerine birds has been associated with improved memory and the advent of food-storing behavior (6). Increased size and complexity of the mushroom bodies (MB), the neural centers of higher-order cognitive processing in insects, are paired with an increase in the prevalence of generalist feeding ecologies across species (7) and with social dominance status within species (8-10).Molecular evidence supports a single origin of the CNS in bilaterally symmetrical animals, including insects and vertebrates, occurring before the protostome-deuterostome split (11). ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps

O’Donnell

Clifford

Molina³

2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…The latter is highly heritable in humans, with genetic differences accounting for 40% -50% of variance [76,77], correlated with brain size [78] and a variety of life outcomes, such as school achievement, occupational attainment, job performance and even health and survival (see [79], for a review). Psychologically, g can be linked to processes such as the size of working memory, attention span, processing speed and inhibitory control over responses (for a review, see [76]).…”

Section: Box 2 General Intelligence In Nonhumansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain

Schaik

Isler

Burkart

2012

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

154

124

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“…Individual differences in general intelligence (IQ) have been attributed largely to differences in the total volumes of the brain and of gray (GM) and white matter (WM) (McDaniel, 2005;Pennington et al, 2000;Posthuma et al, 2002). One large study of healthy adults indicated a weak but significant positive correlation between measures of full-scale IQ (FSIQ) and the volumes of frontal and temporal lobes (Flashman, Andreasen, Flaum, & Swayze, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlates of intellectual ability with morphology of the hippocampus and amygdala in healthy adults

Amat

Bansal

Whiteman

et al. 2008

Brain and Cognition

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Several prior imaging studies of healthy adults have correlated volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala with measures of general intelligence (IQ), with variable results. In this study, we assessed correlations between volumes of the hippocampus and amygdala and full-scale IQ scores (FSIQ) using a method of image analysis that permits detailed regional mapping of this correlation throughout the surface contour of these brain structures. We delineated the hippocampus and amygdala in high-resolution magnetic resonance images of the brain from 34 healthy individuals. We then correlated FSIQ with overall volumes and with the surface morphologies of each of these structures. Hippocampus volumes correlated significantly and inversely with FSIQ independently of gender, age, socioeconomic status, and whole brain volume. Left and right hippocampus volumes correlated respectively with verbal and performance IQ subscales. Higher IQs were significantly associated with large inward deformations of the surface of the anterior hippocampus bilaterally. These findings suggest that a smaller anterior hippocampus contributes to an increased efficiency of neural processing that subserves overall intelligence.

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Big-brained people are smarter: A meta-analysis of the relationship between in vivo brain volume and intelligence

Cited by 460 publications

References 36 publications

Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps

Comparative analysis of constraints and caste differences in brain investment among social paper wasps

Explaining brain size variation: from social to cultural brain

Correlates of intellectual ability with morphology of the hippocampus and amygdala in healthy adults

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