Big-brained people are smarter

RICHMOND, Va., Jun 20, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University says that there is a direct correlation between intelligence and brain size.

Michael McDaniel, an industrial and organizational psychologist, used data from 26 studies where subjects' brain volume was measured using MRI technology and they also took standard intelligence tests.

"For all age and sex groups, it is now very clear that brain volume and intelligence are related," McDaniel said.

McDaniel said his research is important because it answers critics of IQ tests.

"When intelligence is correlated with a biological reality such as brain volume, it becomes harder to argue that human intelligence can't be measured or that the scores do not reflect something meaningful," said McDaniel.

The study has been published on line in the journal "Intelligence."