May 22, 2017.
According to a study conducted by a team of researchers from Chongqing University in China, the brains of only children are not made the same way as those of children who have siblings. Explanations.
More difficulties from a social point of view
Are only children built in the same way as children who grow up among siblings? While many studies have already highlighted a number of behavioral differences, we now learn that the brains of these children would not be made the same way. In any case, this is what Chinese researchers reveal in a study published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behavior.
According to this work, only children are smarter and more creative. The most active areas of the brain in single children are indeed those of imagination and reflection.. On the other hand, they would be less sociable and more selfish children. To reach this conclusion, the researchers followed nearly 300 young Chinese adults, half of whom were only children.
More ease of language and creativity
The participants had to undergo a series of tests, including scans of their brains using MRI scans. No difference in IQ was observed, but the researchers found that only children had larger volumes of gray matter, in the supramarginal gyrus, the area of language and imagination. But this volume was less important at the level of the medial frontal cortex, which plays a role in the regulation of emotions.
These differences in brain development can be explained in different ways. A child who has not learned to share will be more easily selfish and will have more difficulty living in society. But the attention that his parents will give him will allow him to be more creative and quick-witted. But beware, in any case this study can not be law. Each child is constructed differently, depending on the context in which he is raised.
Marine Rondot
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