INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

Women tend to have slightly more friends than men. Picture: Moeketsi Moticoe

London - Forget wit, charm and an easy-going nature. The key to having lots of friends could be a large orbital pre-frontal cortex.

Scientists have linked the size of the part of the brain that lies just above the eyes with sociability. The bigger that orbital pre-frontal cortex, the bigger a person’s social circle.

To make the link, the researchers quizzed 40 men and women about the people they had been in contact with over the past week. Professional contacts were excluded, unless they could be shown to be friends.

The volunteers then underwent brain scans to measure the size of the orbital pre-frontal cortex - a region known to be important to mood, emotions and empathy.

It is thought that this area of the brain is key to “mentalising” - the ability to interpret another’s thoughts and emotions and a skill crucial to making and maintaining friendships.

Dr Joanne Powell, of the University of Liverpool, said: “What this tells us is that the size of your brain determines your social skills and it is these that allow you to have many friends.”

The study didn’t find any differences between the sexes, although previous research has found that women tend to have slightly more friends than men.

The findings, detailed in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, fit with the theory that humans developed bigger brains to help them deal with living in a big group.

Oxford University’s Robin Dunbar, one of Britain’s leading evolutionary biologists, said: “Understanding this link between an individual’s brain size and the number of friends they have helps us understand the mechanisms that have led to humans developing bigger brains than other primate species.”

He added that giving a child lots of social opportunities when young may aid the development of this key brain region and so make it easier for them to form friendships when older. - Daily Mail