Abstract
Objective: Brain weight varies with age and gender. It decreases with age and also in many diseases. This cross-sectional analytical type of study was carried out to establish normal standard in different age groups in weight of the brain and to see the difference between sexes of adult Bangladeshi people. Materials and Methods: A total of 70 postmortem human brains of adult age groups ranging from 22-58 years in male and 22-48 years in female were collected from the unclaimed dead bodies during postmortem at the autopsy laboratory in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, from January 2010 to December 2010. The samples were divided into four different age groups i.e. Group A (20-29 years), Group B (30-39 years), Group C (40-49 years) and Group D (50-59 years). The weight of the whole brain was measured and significant differences in weight of the whole brain between different age groups and between male and female were determined.Results: In male highest value of weight was 1326.67±41.53 gm in group A and lowest one was 1281.6±40.21 gm in group D. These values of female were 1235.56±48.51 gm in group A and 1197.14±38.61 gm in group C. Significant differences were found in mean weight of the whole brain in male and female in group A (p=0.001), B (p=0.001) and C (p=0.001). The difference of mean weight in different age groups was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The weight of the brain is higher in male than in female and it decreases with age. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v13i4.20554 Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.13(4) 2014 p.396-400
Highlights
The brain, the part of central nervous system is regarded as the organ solely concerned with thought, memory, and consciousness, but these are only a few of its complex and varied functions
Lower brain weight was reported in schizophrenia[3], Parkinson’s disease[4], alcohol dependent person[5] and brain weight of victim of fatal self-harm was significantly higher than those who died of natural causes[6]
Significant differences were found in mean weight of the whole brain in male and female in group A (p=0.001), B (p=0.001) and C (p=0.001) (Table I)
Summary
The brain, the part of central nervous system is regarded as the organ solely concerned with thought, memory, and consciousness, but these are only a few of its complex and varied functions. The brain consists of the cerebral hemispheres, the brain stem, the diencephalon and the cerebellum[1]. It lies within the cranium[2].Weight of the human brain is about 1400 gm[1]. Brain weight varies with age and gender. It decreases with age and in many diseases. Male brains are about 10% larger than female brains and weigh 11-12% more than that of a woman.
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