London - Those of us with a bigger brain have more friends, according to scientists.
Keeping up friendships takes brain power and those with a wide circle of real friends – as opposed to ones on social networking sites – have to employ more cognitive skills to understand what they are thinking.
Researchers have found a link between the number of friends we have and the size of our orbital prefrontal cortex – a region of the brain found just above the eyes.
Tests were conducted on 40 volunteers, with scientists taking scans of their brains to measure the size of the prefrontal cortex, which is used for high-level thinking.
Participants were asked to make a list of those they had social contact with over a seven-day period. They also took a test to determine how competent they were at “mentalising”, the capacity to understand what another person is thinking.
Results published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B showed a connection between those with a large friendship group and a larger prefrontal cortex.
Professor Robin Dunbar, from Oxford University, said: “Understanding this link between an individual’s brain size and the number of friends they have helps us understand the mechanisms that led to humans developing bigger brains than other primate species. Our study finds there is a link between the ability to read how other people think and social network size.” - Daily Mail