'People living in north have bigger brains'they have evolved to cope with the longer winters and greyer skies in northern climes, say British research

'People living in north have bigger brains'

PTI | Jul 28, 2011, 05.24AM IST

LONDON: People living in the north have bigger brains than those staying in the south, says a study.

Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean northerners are more intelligent than people from the south - just that they have evolved to cope with the longer winters and greyer skies in northern climes, say British researchers.

In fact, a team at Oxford University, who measured the brain volume of 55 skulls from around the world, came out with this intriguing theory that people from countries further from the equator have more grey matter and larger eyes than those from sunnier parts, 'The Daily Telegraph' reported. This is because living in low light conditions means the eyes and brain need to work harder in order to process images to a good level of detail, or "high resolution" , say researchers.

Lead author Eiluned Pearce said the study suggests that the bigger brains and eyes are needed to see properly in dimmer light.

"As you move away from equator, there's less light available, so humans have had to evolve bigger and bigger eyes. Their brains also need to be bigger to deal with extra visual input. "Having bigger brains doesn't mean higher latitude humans are smarter, it just means they need bigger brains to be able to see well," she said.