New research has found that the brains of younger generations are larger and continue to grow, which may reduce the risk of age-related dementia.
The study, conducted by researchers at UC Davis Health and published in the medical journal JAMA Neurology, found that participants born in the 1970s had 6.6 percent more brain volume and 15 percent more surface area than those born in the 1930s. .
Charles DeCarli, the study’s first author, is a professor of neurology and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at UC Davis.
He said: “The decade in which a person is born appears to affect brain size and long-term brain health.
Participants born between the 1930s and 1970s had MRI scans (a type of scan that produces detailed images of the inside of the body) taken between 1999 and 2019.
A total of 3,226 participants participated, 53% women and 47% men, with a mean age of 57 years at the time of MRI.
Consistently improved results in multiple brain structures.
One measure of brain volume showed a steady increase over the decades – participants born in the 1930s had an average volume of 1,234ml, but those born in the 1970s averaged 1,321ml, a 6.6 per cent larger volume.
Cortical surface area, the top measure of the brain, showed a greater increase – participants born in the 1970s had an average surface area of 2,104 cm2 compared to 2,056 cm2 for participants born in the 1930s – an increase of about 15 percent.
The researchers found that brain structures such as white matter, gray matter and the hippocampus (the area of the brain involved in learning and memory) also increased between the two groups.
