Intelligence - Page 3 of 22

The Diet That Lowers IQ In 9 Days

The diet causes lower intelligence and 50 percent more laziness.

High-fat foods can reduce intelligence in just 9 days, research finds.

Cognitive performance reduced by 20 percent in just over a week after eating a high-fat diet.

The study on rats fed them a diet equivalent to human junk food.

After nine days, not only was their cognitive performance affected, but their physical performance was reduced by 50 percent.

The short-term effects of a high-fat diet are startling, the researchers say.

A previous study has found a high-fat diet can reduce cognitive performance in humans as well.

Dr Andrew Murray, the study’s first author, said:

“We found that rats, when switched to a high-fat diet from their standard low-fat feed, showed a surprisingly quick reduction in their physical performance.
After just nine days, they were only able to run 50 per cent as far on a treadmill as those that remained on the low-fat feed.”

The conclusions come from a study of rats who were initially fed on a standard low-fat diet.

Half were then switched to a high-fat diet.

Dr Andrew Murray explained how these diets translate to what humans eat:

“With the standard feed, 7.5 per cent of the calories come from fat.
That’s a pretty low-fat diet, much like humans eating nothing but muesli.
The high-fat diet, in which 55 per cent of the calories came from fat, sounds high but it’s actually not extraordinarily high by human standards.
A junk food diet would come close to that.”

The results showed that after nine days the rats fed on a high-fat diet made 20 percent more errors when learning to navigate a maze.

They were also running 50 percent less far.

The researchers also found that the rats’ hearts were enlarged with the increased effort of pumping blood around their bodies.

Professor Kieran Clarke, study co-author, said:

“These are startling results.
It shows that high-fat feeding even over short periods of time can markedly affect gene expression, metabolism and physical performance.”

Professor Jeremy Pearson said:

“In little more than a week, a change in diet appears to have made the rats’ hearts much less efficient.
We look forward to the results of the equivalent studies in human volunteers, which should tell us more about the short-term effects of high-fat foods on our hearts.
We already know that to protect our heart health in the long-term, we should cut down on foods high in saturated fat.”

The study was published in The FASEB Journal (Murray et al., 2009).

IQ Is NOT The Main Driver Of Academic Success– Here’s What Is (M)

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The Vitamin Linked To Higher IQ

Deficiency in this vitamin is very common.

Higher vitamin D levels during pregnancy are linked to higher IQ among children, research finds.

Unfortunately, vitamin D deficiency is common in the general population and especially among Black people.

Around 80 percent of Black pregnant women may be deficient in vitamin D.

Ms Melissa Melough, the study’s first author, explains:

“Melanin pigment protects the skin against sun damage, but by blocking UV rays, melanin also reduces vitamin D production in the skin.
Because of this, we weren’t surprised to see high rates of vitamin D deficiency among Black pregnant women in our study.
Even though many pregnant women take a prenatal vitamin, this may not correct an existing vitamin D deficiency.
I hope our work brings greater awareness to this problem, shows the long-lasting implications of prenatal vitamin D for the child and their neurocognitive development, and highlights that there are certain groups providers should be paying closer attention to.
Widespread testing of vitamin D levels is not generally recommended, but I think health care providers should be looking out for those who are at higher risk, including Black women.”

The study included over 1,500 women and their children, who were tracked over five years.

The results showed that children had higher IQs at 4-6 years old when their mothers had higher vitamin D levels during pregnancy.

Ms Melough said:

“Vitamin D deficiency is quite prevalent.
The good news is there is a relatively easy solution. It can be difficult to get adequate vitamin D through diet, and not everyone can make up for this gap through sun exposure, so a good solution is to take a supplement.”

The recommended daily intake for vitamin D is 600 IU.

The average intake in the US is just 200 IU, with the remainder required from exposure to the sun.

Unfortunately, most people do not get enough exposure to the sun, especially in the winter months.

Foods that contain high levels of vitamin D include cow’s milk, breakfast cereals, fatty fish and eggs.

Ms Melough said:

“I want people to know that it’s a common problem and can affect children’s development.
Vitamin D deficiency can occur even if you eat a healthy diet.
Sometimes it’s related to our lifestyles, skin pigmentation or other factors outside of our control.”

The study was published in The Journal of Nutrition (Melough et al., 2020).

The Bold And Confident Sign That You Have High IQ

The psychologists predicted that intellectual humility would be linked to better results on coursework — but this wasn’t the case.

People who are confident in their intellectual abilities tend to have a higher IQ, a study finds.

Those who have confidence bordering on arrogance do better in academic tests.

People with higher IQs tend to agree with statements like “I believe my own ideas are superior to others.”

The intellectually arrogant tend to be seen by others as dominating the group and being extraverted.

Intellectually arrogant people tend to be the centre of attention and also score higher marks in tests, the study found.

On the down side, the intellectually arrogant are not liked as well as their peers who are more humble.

Professor Wade C. Rowatt, study co-author, said:

“One possibility is that people who view themselves as intellectually arrogant know what they know and that translates to increases in academic performance.”

The conclusions come from a study of over 100 students.

The authors thought that intellectual humility would be linked to better results on coursework.

However, it was the intellectually arrogant who got the best scores.

Dr Benjamin R. Meagher, the study’s first author, still thinks humility is a vital trait:

“What I think is important about intellectual humility is its necessity for not only science, but for just learning generally — and that applies to the classroom, a work setting, wherever.
Learning something new requires first acknowledging your own ignorance and being willing to make your ignorance known to others.
People clearly differ in terms of their willingness to do something like that, but that willingness to learn, change one’s mind and value the opinion of others is really needed if people and groups are going to develop and grow.”

The study was published in the Journal of Research in Personality (Meagher et al., 2015).

A Wonderful Sign Of High IQ

The study tracked 65,765 people born in Scotland in 1936 for 79 years.

People with higher IQs live longer lives, research finds.

People with high intelligence in childhood are less likely to get heart disease, strokes, respiratory diseases and dementia later on.

Some of the lowered risk is down to the fact that more intelligent people are less likely to smoke.

The conclusions come from a study of 65,765 people born in Scotland in 1936 who were followed until age 79.

Higher IQ scores in childhood were linked to a:

28% reduction in risk of death from respiratory diseases,
25% reduction in risk of death from coronary heart disease,
and 24% reduction in stroke risk.

The study’s authors write:

“Importantly, it shows that childhood IQ is strongly associated with causes of death that are, to a great extent, dependent on already known risk factors…
…tobacco smoking and its distribution along the socioeconomic spectrum could be of particular importance here.
[…]
It remains to be seen if this is the full story or if IQ signals something deeper, and possibly genetic, in its relation to longevity.”

The study was published in the BMJ (Calvin et al., 2017).

The Common Drink Linked To A Lower IQ

The drink is consumed by 86% of Americans and is popular around the world.

Drinking higher levels of alcohol and binge drinking are both linked to a lower IQ, research finds.

People with higher IQs tend to avoid binge drinking.

The conclusions come from a study of 49,321 Swedish men conscripted for military service between 1969 and 1971.

They were given IQ tests and asked about their alcohol intake.

The lower their IQ was, the more they drank and the more likely they were to binge drink.

It is not clear from the study exactly how IQ is linked to alcohol intake.

However, it is likely that lower IQ is linked to lower social status and emotional problems, both of which may drive higher rates of alcohol consumption.

The study’s authors conclude:

“We found that lower results on IQ tests are associated with higher consumption of alcohol measured in terms of both total alcohol intake and binge drinking in Swedish adolescent men.”

People with higher IQs tend to be healthier, the authors explain:

“One suggested explanation for the association between intelligence and health is that cognitive skills enhance possibilities to make healthy lifestyle choices.
Cognitive ability has been found to be associated with several health-related behaviors, such as smoking, food intake, and physical activity.”

Previous studies have also linked binge drinking to lower IQ.

However, in that study, people with higher IQs had higher levels of average alcohol consumption.

The results fit with the fact that highly intelligent people are also more likely to use drugs.

It could be because the intelligent tend to be easily bored.

At the same time, though, they also led healthier lifestyles.

The divergence between the studies could be down to different populations.

The study was published in the Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Journal (Sjölund et al., 2015).

Why Smart People Are Prone To Mental Illness

The risk of mental illness is up to 4 times higher in those with a high IQ. Why?

Highly intelligent people are at increased risk of mental illness, according to research.

This is because the brains of intelligent people are hyperexcitable, the researchers think.

A higher IQ leads to a greater awareness of their surroundings and what is going on.

This causes the central nervous system to be more reactive, making intelligent people more ‘jumpy’.

Dr Nicole Tetreault, study co-author, said:

“A minor insult such as a clothing tag or an unnatural sound may trigger a low level, chronic stress response which then activates a hyper body response.
When the sympathetic nervous system becomes chronically activated, it finds itself in a continuous fight, flight, or freeze state that triggers a series of immune changes in both the body and the brain-altering behavior, mood, and functioning.”

The conclusions come from a survey of 3,715 members of MENSA, whose members all have high IQs (above 130).

They reported their own mood and anxiety disorders as well as other conditions such as ADHD, autism and any physiological problems.

This data was compared to the national averages for these conditions.

Ms Audrey Kinase Kolb, study’s co-author, said:

“If high intelligence was not a risk factor for these diseases and disorders, we would see a similar prevalence rate between the two groups.
However, in this study, the Mensa population had significantly higher rates across the board.
For example, just over 10% of the US has a diagnosed anxiety disorder, compared to 20% for Mensans.
For these conditions, having a high intelligence is related to having between 2 to 4 times the chance of having a diagnosis compared to the average American.”

Ms Ruth Karpinski, the study’s first author, said:

“While falling within the extreme right tail of the Bell Curve is generally touted as a ‘gift’ leading to exceptional outcomes, this is not always the case.
Those with high IQ possess unique intensities and overexcitabilities which can be at once both remarkable and disabling on many levels.”

The study was published in the journal Intelligence (Karpinski et al., 2017).

The Funny Sign That Your IQ Is High

Both men and women are more attracted to a person with this quality.

Being funny is a sign of a higher IQ, research finds.

Funny people have higher levels of general and verbal intelligence.

Not only that, but being funny is also linked to having more dating success.

Both men and women are more attracted to a person who is funnier.

However, women are more discerning about humour and react to it more strongly.

Men, meanwhile, tend to be focused on producing jokes (often to impress women).

The study’s authors write:

“Humor is not just a reliable intelligence-indicator; it may be one of the most important traits for humans seeking mates.
Of course, mate attraction is not the only function of humor.
Humor can also be used in competing for status with same-sex rivals, reducing social tensions, and other adaptive functions.”

The study involved 400 young people who were given intelligence tests and asked about their dating history.

They were then handed New Yorker cartoons with the caption deleted and asked to come up with their own.

The results showed that, unsurprisingly, verbal intelligence was strongly related to being funny.

However, people found it hard to come up with anything really good, with most captions rated as not funny at all.

This shows how difficult jokes are — especially in the medium of New Yorker captions.

Other studies, though, have also found links between intelligence and humour.

In this study, men were especially focused on trying to write funny captions and theirs were rated more highly, the authors write:

“Men were funnier than women on average and produced a larger number of captions, consistent with the sexual signaling hypothesis in which men try (unconsciously) to signal their mate quality through their humor ability, and women are more responsive to and discriminating about humor.”

The study was published in the journal Intelligence (Greengross & Miller, 2011).

A Sign That You Are Smarter Than Average

The behaviour is linked to more white matter, the brain’s ‘superhighway’.

People who take calculated risks are likely to be smarter than average, research finds.

People making quick decisions and taking chances have more white matter in their brains.

White matter is sometimes called the ‘superhighway’ of the brain: it transmits signals and regulates communication.

The researchers were surprised by the result as they expected the exact opposite: that smarter people would spend more time evaluating the situation before making a decision.

Dr Dagfinn Moe, study co-author, explained:

“We expected to find that young men who spend time considering what they are going to do in a given risk situation would have more highly developed neural networks in their brains than those who make quick decisions and take chances.
This has been well documented in a series of studies, but our project revealed the complete opposite.”

The research involved young men playing a driving game.

The results showed that high-risk takers did not hesitate as long during the game.

Dr Moe thinks that the ability to take risks is under-appreciated by society at large:

“Daring and risk-willingness activate and challenge the brain’s capacity and contribute towards learning, coping strategies and development.
They can stimulate behaviour in the direction of higher levels of risk-taking in people already predisposed to adapt to cope optimally in such situations.
We must stop regarding daring and risk-willingness simply as undesirable and uncontrolled behaviour patterns.”

Seeking out challenges helps to stimulate the brain, which may be why risk-takers have more white matter.

Dr Moe said:

“All the positive brain chemicals respond under such conditions, promoting growth factors that contribute to the development of the robust neural networks that form the basis of our physical and mental skills.
The point here is that if you’re going to take risks, you have to have the required skills.
And these have to be learned.
Sadly, many fail during this learning process — with tragic consequences.
So this is why we’re wording our findings with a Darwinian slant — it takes brains to take risks.”

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE (Vorobyev et al., 2015).

High IQ Is Linked To Loving This Surprising Type Of Music

People use this music to ‘purge’ their negativity.

Liking heavy metal music is a sign of high intelligence, research suggests.

Some people may use heavy metal music as a way of coping with being talented.

Being a ‘metalhead’ is sometimes associated with poor performance and delinquency, but this survey found otherwise.

More intelligent people may find themselves outsiders and use heavy metal music to deal with the stress.

Dr Stuart Cadwallader, the study’s author, says there is a stereotype that more intelligent people are into classical music.

While this is true for some, others take solace in heavy metal.

Dr Cadwallader said that young people enjoy the complex and sometimes political themes in metal that are not explored in mainstream pop music.

Both alienation and being separate from society may chime with some gifted people.

The results come from a survey of 1,057 members of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth in the UK.

This body represents young people aged 11-18 who are in the top 5 per cent academically.

The results showed that while rock was the most popular genre among talented youngsters, one-third rated heavy metal in their top five genres and 6 per cent gave it top spot.

Those who particularly liked heavy metal also tended to have lower self-esteem.

Genres traditionally linked to intelligence — classical music and jazz — were the least popular.

Some young people said they liked to literally ‘jump out’ their frustrations and anger to heavy metal.

Dr Cadwallader said:

“Perhaps the pressures associated with being gifted and talented can be temporarily forgotten with the aid of music.
As one student suggests, perhaps gifted people may experience more pressure than their peers and they use the music to purge this negativity.”

The study was published by the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (Cadwaller, 2007).