Like, literally.
Just curious if your children have exceptionally large heads. Both my kids have heads that are WAY above the 99th percentiles on the chart. I always joked "big head means big brain," but when I've mentioned it to other parents of gifted, they've often commented that *their* kids had big heads too.
I thought it was an interesting correlation and wanted a larger sample size...
My father has a big head and he's PG or thereabouts.
Both of my children had heads a bit below average as infants/toddlers (or whenever they stop taking head measurements). Both are HGish/HG+.
My family is full of big heads and gifted big brains too.
But when my DD was a baby I mentioned the worry over the 99% head and 25% weight. We are of Scandinavian descent and he said it is common for people of our ancestry....I think he called it a Nordic Noggin.
Yes, DD (DYS)'s head was always I think 99th percentile (while they were still measuring). But that is apparently (also?) correlated with being on the Autism Spectrum, or at least so we have been told. And DD definitely is on there also, but IMO just barely.
My husband and both kids all have big heads. But mine is unusually small, and I probably was the most gifted of us all as a child.
DS8's head circumference is average... for an 18 year old. Height is average for a 10 year old.
Both of mine had very large heads as toddlers, now they are large (above average) but not off the chart huge. DS's head is a kind of odd shape (very round and we have problems getting helmets to fit him).
I think I have read somewhere that gifted children tend to have large heads, but it is also true of some genetic disorders. DS's head is so round that the neurosurgeon said that might be why he has a possible chiari malformation. (and just to note it doesn't look abnormal or anything, it's just something you'd notice if you made a point of comparing his head to other kids' heads. His cousin, who is 3 years older, has a head that is much smaller than DS!).
I was reading about Albert Einstein and about how his parents said he had such a huge, odd, round head as a baby. Sounds like DS.
Dh....big noggin, big features on his face, probably above average in intelligence to gifted....he is gifted artistically for sure.
Me...averaged sized head...same as husband iq probably...I don't know...I had two pg brothers one older and one younger...so I always felt not quite as quick,fast, intelligent, smart whatever as them...but I have no perspective on my own abilities.
Ds 13.... Narrow head either average to low average in size. Gifted, not pg though, Asperger's
Ds 9. Giant head like dad, PG
Both had big heads as babies / toddlers ... in the 99th percentile. Now they are no longer "that big". The issue only comes up when I need to put a sweatshirt with a hoodie that does not have a zipper on DS3.9! lol Then I get reminded that his head is still a little bigger and he's the more gifted (at least it's our suspicion)
I used to be laughed at by my cousins and friends for having a big head (I'm otherwise pretty petite so the head was standing out! lol)
Both my kids Ds6 (PG) Ds 4 (not tested) have always had huge heads. Hard to get shirts on and off. They are off the charts as far as height, but even so, their heads look big on them. Especially the younger one.
In a
news release by Elaine Schmidt titled "International team uncovers new genes that shape brain size, intelligence" published online at the UCLA newsroom, April 15 2012:
DNA comprises four bases: A (adenine), C (cytosine), T (thymine) and G (guanine). People whose HMGA2 gene held a letter "C" instead of a "T" at a specific location on the gene possessed larger brains and scored more highly on standardized IQ tests.
However brain size is different than observable skull size. Early scientific attempts at studying skull size as a proxy for brain size and seeing whether that correlated with intelligence have since been debunked.
Respecting the broad diversity among human beings, caution must be used to avoid stereotyping people by their physical characteristics.
However brain size is different than observable skull size. Early scientific attempts at studying skull size as a proxy for brain size and seeing whether that correlated with intelligence have since been debunked.
One would-be debunker has since been debunked.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/science/14skull.html?_r=2&ref=intelligence&
Typical people waste 90% of their brains. My brain is double the size of a typical one, but I waste 95% of it, so it all evens out in the end.
When my DH walked into the room our paediatrician lost all interest in my infant DD (who was ill, it was not a well visit) to say "OMG LOOK AT YOUR HEAD". Yes, he actually said that out loud, and would not let us leave without measuring my DH's head (4cm off the chart for an adult male).... He then cheerfully told us "Well, you've clearly made it to adulthood fairly functional, so no need to worry the children have some-condition-I-have-forgotten-the-name-of when we note that they have abnormally large heads."
DH is gifted, he's not PG, by a long shot. Unsurprisingly my children do all have large heads. One is HG+, one MG-ish/2E and one is likely HG. I don't think it's to do with headsize...
Dd has a small head. She is a preemie and her head has always measured in 10-25th percentile. I was worried when she was little because she looked more like a doll than a baby but the doctor assured me that abnormally big heads were more of a concern than a small head. I have no idea how gifted dd is but at this point I will be surprised if she not gifted. Glad that a small skull has not yet hindered the ability of her brain to flourish.
First kid 10% percentile head,second kid 95% percentile, third kid 40% percentile. Two older ones have been tested, FSIQ > 130. Third has not been tested, but suspect similar IQ.
I don't think there is any correlation between head size and IQ.
... nytimes... 2011/06/14/...
In the article referenced, it is simply clarified that Morton was not attempting to correlate skull size with intelligence.
Dr. Gould, who died in 2002, based his attack on the premise that Morton believed that brain size was correlated with intelligence. But there is no evidence that Morton believed this or was trying to prove it, said Jason E. Lewis, the leader of the Pennsylvania team.
While Gould was mistaken about Morton's work, Lewis revealing Gould's error does not indicate that skull size correlates with intelligence.
While exploring differences among individuals may lead to interesting conversations, some would say that to anticipate greater intelligence in children with larger heads and to set higher expectations for them academically and intellectually would not be a sound practice.
Typical people waste 90% of their brains. My brain is double the size of a typical one, but I waste 95% of it, so it all evens out in the end.
Ha ha!
Thanks for all the funny comments! My kids are the bobble head type -- fairly tall and slim for height, but giant head -- but I don't think it's that noticeable when you look at them. The "good for film" comment especially struck me because I do sometimes wonder if I'm doing my kids a disservice by living where we live rather than moving to Hollywood.
But every parent thinks their child is stunning...
One time at the ped, I asked "What's up with the big head?" and she shrugged and said, "Who in your family has a big head?"
I replied that I didn't know what she was talking about and only months later realized that standard-sized hats NEVER fit me. haha.
Big head on my DS. It don't seem so big anymore.
Thats funny! My son has a large head, too. So does my 2 yr old!
Dd#2 has an exceptionally large head, always has, and has a 99.9% FSIQ on the WISC.
Lucky for her her large head isn't noticeable until she tries to put shirts without buttons or hats on. Her head is adult sized.
Reminds me of that moment of feeling completely incompetent as a parent when I couldn't figure out how to get a onesie on DS. Struggling and fiddling and can not figure out the right way to get the onesie on, while the poor kid's head is stuck in the body of it. And feeling even dumber when I realized his head was just too big.
I needed a C-section for DD11 because her head got stuck in my (average sized) pelvic opening. Neither of my kids seem unusual in that respect now though. They look pretty typical.
Brain size, and to a lesser extent head size, are positively correlated with IQ. The Wikipedia article "Neuroscience and Inteligence"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_and_intelligence has references.
Although a positive correlation between brain size and IQ is plausible and supported by the evidence, dishonest writers such as Stephen Jay Gould have sought to deny it.
Although a positive correlation between brain size and IQ is plausible and supported by the evidence, dishonest writers such as Stephen Jay Gould have sought to deny it.
Maybe because his brain is small? ;p
I don't know... my IQ is 153 and my head seems pretty average sized.
I do recall, though, reading something about the amount of folds on the surface being more important (ie the more the better, resulting in increased surface area) than actual overall brain size. Who knows though.