WHAT DOES BRAIN POWER DEPEND ON?

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 174, 26 July 1939, Page 12

WHAT DOES BRAIN POWER DEPEND ON?

Interesting Facts Recalled

Dr. Edward Podolsky, of Brooklyn, in the Quarterly Review, contributes an article on “The Anatomy of Intelligence,” giving some interesting facts about the brain as revealed by the latest research. He writes:—

“ 'JT'HE first real discovery of the secret of superior brain power was made by Dr. Hindzie, in 1926, who devoted special attention to the blood supply of the brain coverings of those of superior mental powers and those of ordinary mental ability. He began to find real differences.

"He found that the blood supply of the brain coverings of those of superior mental endowment was richer and more complex. From a careful study of the blood supply to the brain one can now definitely state whether the brain was that of a man of talent or that of a moron.

"For the first time the brain anatomist has at least a partial answer as to what br&in power depends upon. He knows that it does not depend upon the weight of the brain nor the complexity of its make-up. It depend? a great deal on the amount of blood supplied to the brain. The more generous the blood supply the greater the mental abilities.

"The brain coverings of men of genius have blood vessels of magnificent calibre and are rich in the supply of these conduits of blood. The halfwit, on the other hand, has a brain covering poor in blood vessels and these are of a constricted calibre.

“Another important point which the surgeons in their explorations of the brain discovered is that the composition of the blood itself plays a very important role in fostering intelligence. The amount of sugar, of lime, and of other important elements is of the utmost importance. It is believed that mental processes may be controlled by the character of the blood stream. The architecture of the brain cell depends not only upon the amount of blood brought to it but also upon the quality. . . .

"Dr. Donald B. Lindsley of the Brush Foundation and Western Reserve University has learned some interesting facts about how the brain works by employing the electroencephalograph, os this measuring device is known. He found that babies begin to think at the age of three months. In infants, the significant alpa waves (the thinking waves) first appear at this age.

"Before that, the brain recordings show either a complete absence of electrical activity of the brain or small grossly irregular beta waves oscillating at the rate of from 25 to 40 per second. Occasionally a single wave of

alpha magnitude appears in infants under three months of age; but rhythmic frequency of alpha waves (visible evidence of the brain thinking) does not appear until the third month. Since infants begin to perceive objects and follow them witli their eys at about this same age, it is quite evident that the human brain awakens to functional activity at three months.

"What happenj after that? Dr. Lindsley has found that the pattern of the alpha waves (thinking waves) improves in frequency, amplitude, and rhythm with age, until the adult level is reached at eight to ten years. For some reason the frequency is increased over the adult levels during the ten to twelve age period. Dr. Lindsley is of the opinion that this rise in frequency is related to some of the many physiological changes which are believed to occur between the ages of ten to twelve.

"A somewhat disconcerting discovery, so far as men are concerned* is that women think faster than men. The principal criteria in judging the functional activity of the brain by means of its electrical effects are: (1) the frequency; (2) amplitude; and (3) the rhythm of the brain waves which appear on the film strip. In women Dr. Lindsley found the average frequency of the alpha waves wag 11 per second, in men 10.2 per second. Hence the deduction that women think faster. Another interesting thing about brain waves is that they are individual for each person, almost as individual as fingerprints. It has been suggested that in the future brain waves of criminals may be made to be kept on file as are fingerprints at the present time. This interesting possibility has been worked out by Professor Lee Edward Travis at lowa State University. He made a scries of brain wave tracings of forty-four healthy students. Each student had brain waves of very marked individuality as far as frequency, form, and amplitude of the waves are concerned. Successive pictures of the contour of the brain always matched each individual student. It shows that each indivdual has his own technique of thinking. . . .

"Brain students are now getting a clear picture of what constitutes intelligence. Certain are they that intelligence depends not upon the size or weight of the brain, as hithertofore believed, but upon the amount of blood furnished the brain, the quality of the blood as influenced by internal and external chemical changes, which may also have something tc do with the electrical energy of the brain.”