Our brain is an amazing organ. It regulates all the vital functions of the body, and is also able to perceive and process a huge amount of information. What affects the size of the human brain? What are its dimensions?
Weight and volume of the human brain
The brain belongs to the central nervous system. It consists of five sections and is covered with three shells. The anterior section is represented by the right and left hemispheres, which, in turn, are covered by the cortex.
Absolutely all our actions are due to the work of the brain. We think, analyze, walk, eat, sleep, thanks to him. When he dies, we also die. The brain is safely hidden in the skull to reduce the risk of damage.
He grows and develops with us. At birth, its weight is 300 grams, over time this number increases by almost five times. The volume of the brain of a modern person occupies up to 95% of the skull, taking its shape as it grows. As a rule, the brain weighs from 1 to 2 kilograms, and its volume in an average person reaches 1200-1600 cubic centimeters. Atwomen are smaller than men.
Ancient people
The first two-legged creatures were Australopithecus. In the evolutionary chain, they were closest to the great apes, including the size of the brain, the volume of which did not exceed 600 cubic centimeters.
More than 2 million years ago, one line of great apes (hominid) began to change. In particular, their brain began to increase. Scientists suggest that this is due to a change in lifestyle and the use of the first tool. So, already among the most ancient people it was much more than among their ancestors.
They were replaced by ancient people - Neanderthals, and then Cro-Magnons. It is noteworthy that the volume of the brain of ancient people exceeded the size of this organ in a modern person by about 20%. The reason for this phenomenon has not yet been clarified.
Scientists suggest that the reduction in the brain can be explained by saving energy. One of the arguments in our favor is also the development of abstract thinking. Thanks to him, many concepts have acquired a generalized meaning, and the information has been “shrunk” a little and takes up less space in the brain.
What determines the size
There is a common myth that the size of a person's brain is reflected in his mental abilities. But the nature of living organisms turned out to be somewhat more complicated. Numerous experiments have long refuted this hypothesis, proving that it is not so much the size of the brain that is important, but its ratio with the size of the body.
An important factor is also the attitudebrain and spinal cord. In humans, it is 1:50. For comparison, in a cat this figure is 1:1, in monkeys - 1:16. Scientists are convinced that brain size is affected by the set of skills that different species possess. It is also associated with more or less development of certain departments that regulate specific functions in the body. For example, birds have a more developed part of the brain that is responsible for vision and balance.
For a normal existence, it is enough to have a brain of average size. It will not affect intellectual development. Too large or small values may indicate violations. It has been noted that the volume of the brain of a person with autism can be the same as that of a he althy person, but at the same time it will be hypertrophied and developed asymmetrically. Alzheimer's develops faster in people with smaller than average brains.
Interesting facts
- According to recent studies, brain size is determined by seven genes at once.
- On average, its length does not exceed 15 centimeters.
- The size of the female brain is inferior to the male because of the reduced centers that are responsible for logic. Discrepancies can be up to 150 grams.
- It reaches its maximum size at about 20 years of age. The most active growth is usually observed from 7 to 11 years.
- The mass of our "thinker" changes with age. In infancy, she is 300 grams, in adulthood - up to 2 kilograms, but after 50 she loses 30 grams every ten years.
- The brain of the largest toothed whale - the sperm whale - weighs about seven kilograms, that of an elephant - 5.
- Among women, the largest weight indicator was 1565 grams. In men, it amounted to 2850 grams. The record holder was a psychiatric patient with idiocy.
- In dinosaurs, its size did not exceed the size of a ping-pong ball.
- Poet Anatole France's brain weighed 1017g, Lenin's - 1340g, Einstein's - 1230g, Turgenev's brain weighed 2012
Conclusion
The brain is a small computer that regulates all our actions. He is subject to the most complex operations and tasks. In different species, different sexes and age groups, its value is different. So, the brain grows when we grow up, and slowly decreases in old age.
The size of the human brain has nothing to do with our intellectual or creative abilities. In many animals, the size of the brain is much larger than the human. Mental development and the ability to solve complex problems is determined by the structure and development of its individual parts, and not the brain as a whole.
