Baby Brain Scans Predict Later Cognitive Development?

The shape of a newborn baby's brain can predict its later cognitive development, according to a new study from New York neuroscientists Marisa Spann and colleagues. Here's the paper: Morphological features of the neonatal brain support development of subsequent cognitive, language, and motor abilities Now, while the word 'phrenology' gets banded around a lot these days by people who don't like neuroscience, this study actually sort of fits that description - except instead of 'bumps on skulls' it was more 'bumps on brains'. The authors scanned 48 babies (within 6 weeks of birth) using MRI to obtain an image of brain structure; they then analyzed the shape of each brain using a deformation-based morphology approach. This revealed areas on each brain that were bigger or smaller than the average newborn brain: