Neurology Question: Why doesn't reduced brain size in dwarfs affect intelligence?

[DCal430]

Look at this person, clearly her head is significantly smaller than a normal adult, and thus her brain too must be much smaller. But we know from people like her, that they have normal intelligence.

Can someone explain why this is so?

 

[_Rick_]

It's not the size that matters, it's how you use it.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Is this a serious question?

 

[DCal430]

Is this a serious question?

Yes, it is something that I have been curious about. I was thinking it was either because the brain is proportional to the rest body, or because most of the brain mater we have is of little use.

But if it is because of the proportionality reason, then why do people with dwarfism who have normal size heads, but reduce body size, not have far superior intelligence.

 

[John Connor]

Maybe the part of the brain that forms what we know it to be intelligence is just small so a dwarf size head is more than adequate in size.

 

[Rakehellion]

Women are less intelligent because they have smaller heads than men.

 

[Acanthus]

You should look into why Phrenology was discredited in the late 1800's. For a long time it was believed that brain size and shape were markers for intelligence and behavioural traits.

http://www.historyofphrenology.org.uk/overview.htm

A lot of the research that discredited it would be along the lines of what you're thinking of.

 

[Rakehellion]

The blue whale is the smartest creature on the planet as it has the biggest brain.

 

[Thebobo]

The blue whale is the smartest creature on the planet as it has the biggest brain.

No wonder my cat is so stupid

 

[Paratus]

Look at this person, clearly her head is significantly smaller than a normal adult, and thus her brain too must be much smaller. But we know from people like her, that they have normal intelligence.

Can someone explain why this is so?

 

[SP33Demon]

They may not have a full tower, but they still have the barebones kit.

 

[nehalem256]

I think you are asking the wrong question?

Why aren't you smarter than a dwarf since your brain is so much bigger?

 

[Crono]

The size of cells isn't fixed, and rhe number of cells varies from individual to individual. Too many brain cells is a problem. I was reading some articles online about the link between a greater number of neurons resulting in a more massive brain in children with a higher risk of developing autism. Apparently kids have a couple hundred million more brain cells than the average child.

There has to be a range for human brain size above and below which a human being won't have "normal" function at the higher level. I'm not sure what that range is, but I also don't think human beings can have brains very much smaller or larger than the extremes the OP brings up, or at least not at Lilliputan or Brobdingnagian proportions.

One can only shrink or increase die sizes without affecting performance, given the same SoC specifications.... Or something. I'm trying to sound smarter than I am. ;P

 

[BladeVenom]

Most dwarf have normal sized heads, but short limbs.

How do you know having a very small head doesn't affect IQ? Link?

 

[DCal430]

Most dwarf have normal sized heads, but short limbs.

How do you know having a very small head doesn't affect IQ? Link?

True, but I wasn't referring to these dwarfs. I was referring to ones like the OP. Articles about these people have described them as having normal intelligence, that is how I know it doesn't affect IQ.

 

[Doppel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Height_and_intelligence

Several epidemiological studies have shown that intelligence is positively correlated with height in human populations.

 

[zinfamous]

OP is kinda dumb, and this is another example, I think.

 

[Fayd]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Height_and_intelligence

only when you don't account for absolute brain size in the model.

the study I did showed a negative correllation between hieght and brain size (after accounting for absolute brain size)

given such an interaction was significant, i indexed brain size over height and found a better model.

the model was unfornately limited, because it focused only on right-handed white people in this intro to psychology course, and was only 40 people.

but:

weight is not a signifcant indicator for intelligence.
bmi is not a significant indicator for intelligence.
height was not a significant indicator for intelligence (in this study)
gender is not a significant indicator for intelligence.
absolute brain size is a significant indicator for intelligence (R^2 ~ .15)
Relative Brain Size (abs brain size / height) is a significant indicator for intelligence (R^2 ~ .25)

 

[Oyeve]

Humans barely use the brains they have now. like 12%??? So, even with a smaller brain these people have the same intelligence as an average sized persons brain, they just use more of it.

 

[DCal430]

OP is kinda dumb, and this is another example, I think.

Troll elsewhere.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Troll elsewhere.

You create retarded after retarded threads. This is another one.

 

[Albatross]

Why people on the other side of the world don't fall off??

 

[DCal430]

The blue whale is the smartest creature on the planet as it has the biggest brain.

This is actually wrong, many animals have larger brains than the blue whale.

Sperm Whales have the largest brain.

 

[DCal430]

You create retarded after retarded threads. This is another one.

This was a thread around a simple question, which few people actually have valid theories.

The FACT is no one here really know why. So the answer isn't obvious.

Many scientist spend their lives researching, this very topic. Brain size and intelligence, and why does their seem to be very poor correlation.

Troll another thread.

 

[dank69]

The brain and nervous system wires itself up taking whatever space it can find in the proper regions of the brain. Since average full size adult uses ~10% of brain mass there is still more than enough material in a dwarf's brain.