Patients with Alzheimer’s with larger heads have a better memory and are more intellectually agile than patients with small heads, reports the journal Neurology.
According to scientists from the University of Munich, a larger head means more reserves of brain cells, which die in the course of Alzheimer’s disease.
The study involved 270 patients from clinics in the USA, Canada, Germany and Greece. They had mental performance tests and brain imaging tests, and the dimensions of the head were also measured. It turned out that with the same state of advancement of the disease, people with larger heads coped better with the tests. For each percent of damaged brain cells, an additional centimeter of head circumference resulted in a 6 percent higher circumference. memory test results.
Although the size of the brain is genetically determined, it is also influenced by the conditions of fetal life and childhood. Poor nutrition and certain diseases can interfere with brain development, which reaches 93 percent of its target by age 6. (PAP)