Category: Intelligence

Intelligent people often value novel things and are at a greater risk of getting bored.

People with high IQs are more likely to consume mind-altering substances, research finds.

Whether it is alcohol, tobacco or psychoactive drugs like LSD, intelligence and drug-taking are linked.

More intelligent people are also more likely to have sampled a variety of different recreational drugs in the past.

The explanation could be that intelligent people are attracted to novelty or that they do not fear becoming addicted due to higher self-control.

The conclusions come from a series of studies conducted around the world.

One looked at data from the UK and the US, tracking childhood intelligence and the drugs people took later in life.

The study’s authors explain the results:

“More intelligent children, both in the United Kingdom and the United States, are more likely to grow up to consume more alcohol.

More intelligent American children are more likely to grow up to consume more tobacco, while more intelligent British children are more likely to grow up to consume more illegal drugs.”

A second study used a survey of 12,686 people in the US who were first interviewed in 1979 and tracked to the present day.

The results showed that:

“…intelligence tends to be positively related to the probabilities of having tried alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and several other recreational drugs.”

One explanation is that more intelligent people value novelty.

But, there are other ideas:

“…more intelligent people may be less concerned about addiction.

More intelligent people tend to be better at self-control and may therefore be better at restricting their consumption of addictive substances

[…]

If more intelligent people anticipate that they will be able to break their addictions, then they may be more likely to try recreational drugs.”

This fits with another recent study that found that people with high IQs drink more alcohol, although they are unlikely to be heavy drinkers.

Another possibility is that more intelligent people are more likely to get bored.

The studies were was published in the journals Review of General Psychology and Intelligence (Kanazawa & Hellberg, 2010; Wilmoth, 2012).

The more of the foods they consumed, the higher their IQs.

A diet low in sugars, fats and processed foods consumed at a young age may increase your intelligence, research finds.

Children under 3-years-old fed diets that are packed full of nutrients and vitamins have higher IQs.

The more healthily they eat, the higher their IQ.

The study followed the wellbeing and health of 14,000 children born between 1991 and 1992 in the UK.

What they ate was tracked up to the age of 8, when they were given an intelligence test.

The results showed that children who ate a health-conscious diet including more salad, rice, pasta, fish and fruit had higher IQs at age 8.

Those consuming more junk food high in fats and sugars had lower IQs.

The study’s authors conclude that:

“…a poor diet associated with high fat, sugar and processed food content in early childhood may be associated with small reductions in IQ in later childhood, while a healthy diet, associated with high intakes of nutrient rich foods described at about the time of IQ assessment may be associated with small increases in IQ.”

There was little effect on IQ from what children ate between ages 4 and 7.

The authors say:

“This suggests that any cognitive/behavioural effects relating to eating habits in early childhood may well persist into later childhood, despite any subsequent changes (including improvements) to dietary intake.

It is possible that good nutrition during this period [under 3 years-old] may encourage optimal brain growth.”

The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (Northstone et al., 2011).

The foods boosts fluid intelligence, which is the speed at which the brain works.

Eating organic food is linked to a higher IQ, a study finds.

School-age children who ate more organic food had higher scores on tests of fluid intelligence and working memory.

Fluid intelligence refers to the speed at which the brain works.

It is like the raw power of an engine or the speed at which a computer can process information.

Working memory, meanwhile, is vital to holding pieces of visual, verbal or other information in your mind while you manipulate them.

Better working memory has been linked to improved learning, attention and other vital outcomes.

The higher levels of nutrients in organic foods may account for the boost to IQ, said Dr Jordi Júlvez, study co-author:

“Healthy diets, including organic diets, are richer than fast food diets in nutrients necessary for the brain, such as fatty acids, vitamins and antioxidants, which together may enhance cognitive function in childhood.”

In contrast, eating fast food, being exposed to tobacco smoke and house crowding were all linked to lower scores on tests of fluid intelligence.

Children’s brains are sensitive

The results come from over one thousand children aged 6 to 11-years-old in six different European countries, including the UK and Spain.

The research examined 87 factors that the unborn child might be exposed to along with another 122 factors that could affect them during childhood.

The brain is still developing in childhood, so it is particularly sensitive to toxicity.

Low levels of toxicity that may have little affect on the adult brain can still influence children’s brains.

Dr Jordi Júlvez, study co-author, explained the main predictors of higher IQ:

“In our study, we found better scores in fluid intelligence and working memory with higher organic food intake and lower fast food intake.”

As for the predictors of lower IQ, Professor Martine Vrijheid, study co-author, said:

“We observed that several prenatal environmental pollutants (indoor air pollution and tobacco smoke) and lifestyle habits during childhood (diet, sleep and family social capital) were associated with behavioral problems in children.”

The study is notable because of its comprehensive approach to a huge range of variables, said Professor Vrijheid:

“One of the strengths of this study on cognition and the earlier study on behavioral problems is that we systematically analyzed a much wider range of exposure biomarkers in blood and urine to determine the internal levels in the model and that we analyzed both prenatal and childhood exposure variables.”

→ Other dietary changes linked to high IQ include nuts, a diet low in sugars, fats and processed foods, fruits and vegetables,

The study was published in the journal Environment International (de Bont et al., 2021).

One ubiquitous food could help people achieve higher IQs.

Mothers who eat more nuts during pregnancy have children with higher IQs, research finds.

Eating around three 30g servings per week of all types of nuts was linked to higher cognitive function in children.

The scientists believe that nuts provide essential fatty acids that are crucial to brain development.

The fatty acids, such as omega-3 and omega-6, accumulate in the brain of the growing fetus.

The link was only found for mothers who ate the nuts in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

The study included 2,208 mothers and children who were followed from pregnancy.

Mothers were asked about their eating habits and the children were given standard tests of cognitive function.

The results showed that mothers who ate more nuts had children with better cognitive skills, such as memory and attention.

However, even those who ate high levels of nuts were still below recommended amounts, suggesting the benefits are potentially even higher.

Ms Florence Gignac the study’s first author, said:

“The nuts we took into account in this study were walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pine nuts and hazelnuts.

We think that the beneficial effects observed might be due to the fact that the nuts provided high levels of folic acid and, in particular, essential fatty acids like omega-3 and omega-6.

These components tend to accumulate in neural tissue, particularly in the frontal areas of the brain, which influence memory and executive functions.”

The study is the first to find a link between consuming nuts in pregnancy and cognitive development in the child.

However, it is not yet clear why the link only exists in the first trimester.

Dr Jordi Júlvez, study co-author, said:

“This is not the first time we have observed more marked effects when an exposure occurs at a specific stage of the pregnancy.

While our study does not explain the causes of the difference between the first and third trimesters, the scientific literature speculates that the rhythm of fetal development varies throughout the pregnancy and that there are periods when development is particularly sensitive to maternal diet.”

The study was published in the European Journal of Epidemiology (Gignac et al., 2019).

A range of positive traits like this one are linked to higher intelligence.

People with higher IQs are less aggressive and tend to follow the rules, research suggests.

Since higher intelligence is linked to better behaviour, intelligent people are less likely to steal and cheat.

In contrast, younger people with lower IQs are more likely to alarm and harass others, as well as taking part in antisocial behaviour.

Antisocial boys typically have IQ scores 10 points lower than their more social peers.

The insights come from a study of over 1,116 pairs of twins in the UK.

The children were given tests of externalising behaviour and IQ.

Externalising behaviour refers to stealing, cheating, physical aggression and rule-breaking.

The study’s results showed that higher IQs were linked to lower levels of externalising behaviours.

Naturally, lower IQs were linked with more antisocial behaviour.

The study’s authors write:

“Low IQ is a consistent risk factor for emergence and continuity of antisocial behavior across the life course in both prospective and cross-sectional studies, even when other relevant risk factors are statistically controlled.”

Both genetic and situational factors are likely important in the link, the study’s authors write:

“…cognitive deficits might promote antisocial behavior if children with low IQs misunderstand rules, find it too difficult to negotiate conflict with words, find school frustrating, or become tracked with antisocial peers.”

Studies have also linked other positive traits to higher intelligence.

For example, one study has found that being cooperative is a sign of high intelligence.

Cooperative people are good at learning from experience and seeing the bigger picture.

They are generally helpful, mutually supportive and believe in teamwork.

More intelligent people tend to cautiously trust others at first and then build on this over time.

This helps them cooperate better in the long-run, the researchers found.

The study was published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology (Koenen et al., 2008).