Phrenology: Historical Pseudoscience Linking Skull Shape to Character

Phrenology was a 19th-century pseudoscience claiming that skull size and shape reveal character traits and mental abilities. Popular in the U.S. and Europe, it lacked scientific basis.

According to phrenology, a large forehead signified intelligence, reason, and insight. Modern neuroscience rejects these claims; brain function is not determined by external skull morphology.