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SUNDAY, July 15, 2018 – New research suggests that there are not two similar brains because genetics and experience mark your mind.
"With our study, we were able to confirm that the population structure of the brain is very individual," said study author Lutz Jancke. He is Professor of Neuropsychology at the University of Zurich in Switzerland
"Only 30 years ago, we thought that the human brain had little or no individual characteristics," said Jancke. "The personal identification by the anatomical features of the brain was unimaginable."
But this latest finding shows that "the combination of genetic and non-genetic influences clearly affects not only brain function, but also its anatomy," said Jancke. press release from the university.
The study included nearly 200 healthy elderly people who underwent MRI brain scans three times over a two-year period. The researchers evaluated more than 450 features of brain anatomy, including total brain volume, gray matter and white volumes, and the thickness of the cortex.
To illustrate how experience seems to affect the anatomy of the brain, Jancke pointed out musicians, golfers or chess players had specific characteristics in the brain regions on which they relied for their particular skills.
However, short-term experiments also seemed to shape the brain. For example, if a person's right arm was held motionless for two weeks, there was a reduction in the thickness of the brain's cortex in the areas responsible for controlling that arm, the researchers said.
"We suspected that effect on the brain interact with the genetic makeup, so that over the years, each person develops a completely individual brain anatomy," says Jancke.
The findings were published online recently in the journal Scientific Reports. [19659010] More information
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons has more on the anatomy of the brain.
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