Northerners Have Bigger Brains

But it's not because they're smarter
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 27, 2011 6:37 PM CDT
Northerners Have Bigger Brains
Northerners need bigger eyes and brains to cope with the dimmer light.   (Shutterstock)

The great news for people who live in northern climes is that they can now legitimately boast: "We have bigger brains than you southern people." The bad news is that they're not any smarter—they just have crappier weather. Scientists who studied 55 skulls from around the world discovered that people who live far north of the equator have bigger eyes to process the dimmer light and thus bigger brains to process that extra visual input, reports the Telegraph.

"Having bigger brains doesn't mean that higher latitude humans are smarter, it just means they need bigger brains to be able to see well where they live," says the lead researcher. (More brain stories.)

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