A recently conducted study by British Academy Centenary ‘Lucy to Language’ project quotes that bigger will be the orbital prefrontal cortex if you have more friends. The region of brain, which lies just above eyes, is touted to reflect personality traits.
The study states that size of the orbital cortex depends on the capacity to understand what another person is thinking, which is scientifically referred to as ‘mentalising’ or ‘mind-reading’. Better the ability to read mind, better you will be in maintaining friendships.
According to the research panel, the finding will prove handy to solve several societal complexities and ability to carry conversations. It is the first finding in this sphere that associates social proficiencies with the brain size (frontal lobe).
Researcher panel did MRI scan of 40 volunteers for measuring the exact size of prefrontal cortex, the portion which gets used in high level thinking process. The subjects were then asked to make note of their social connections they made contact with in last seven days, excluding acquaintances and colleagues. Additionally, a test was also conducted for analysing mentalising competency.
Individuals with more friends outclassed others on mentalising tasks. They were the ones with more neural volume in the orbital frontal cortex. Research results also provide the cause of why humans develop bigger brains than other primate species.
To reach at precise outcome, study subjects belonged to same age group and had similar opportunities for getting socially involved in their lives. Besides, there are other factors like spare time for socialising, personality, geography and gender that influence social connections. But, relating mentalising skills with factors like gender is of no relevance.
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