Brainy men may be healthier men

A research team at the King's College in London, lead by Rosalin Arden, have found that high intelligence may directly correlate to good health. A study conducted by the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in 1985 to 1986 found that, out of 3654 Vietnam War veterans, people with lower IQs had a higher likelihood of suffering and contracting dozens of diseases and health problems. Men with lower the IQ in the Vietnam War study, compared with men with higher intelligence, found that they had a higher risk of developing hernias, ear inflammation and cataracts. This offers evidence that intelligence and health are the product of common genetic factors. In addition, researchers also found that men with higher intelligence had healthier sperm.

These findings may just possibly simply be the result of a healthier, smarter choice of lifestyle, not the result of genetic mutation or adaptation. However in the study, the overall lifestyle fairly constant with most having a low BMI and a history of no smoking. They are now developing new ways to further test these theories and test whether the correlation between health and intelligence, which was implied in the study, may be genuine.

References:

1) http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17098

12:34 08 May 2009 by Ewan Callaway

2) Journal reference: Intelligence (DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2009.03.008)

Hereditary Intelligence: Are the smarts in your sequence?

A new study has investigated the long thought correlation between intelligence and genes. Previously, the volume of the brain’s grey matter (the cells responsible for mental processing) has been shown to be inheritable as well as the amount of white matter, the connections between these cells. Now, the quality of these connections; the strength of myelin sheath (a fatty layer responsible for lining nerve impulse channels) has been shown to be somewhat hereditary.

In the study, a special type of MRT imaging called HARDI, mapped the diffusion of water through myelin sheathed impulse channels (white matter). The ‘mind maps’ of 23 sets of identical and 23 sets of fraternal twins were compared to evaluate correlations of fluid velocity and hence nerve impulse speed. As identical twins share the same genes and fraternal twins share about half, differences in the mind maps of twins proposed certain genetic influences on brain power.

Genes were shown to influence myelin integrity in many areas of the brain known to be correlated with intelligence, such as the corpus callosum which is responsible for inter-hemisphere interaction and the parietal lobes which are largely involved in visual processing and logical thinking. Correlations between myelin sheath strength in these areas of the brain and performance on IQ tests were also seen to be positive.

The findings are particularly integral for researchers studying the genetic basis for disorders such as autism, multiple sclerosis and attention deficit disorder which are linked to degraded myelin strength. By sequencing genes that promote myelin sheath integrity and identifying the proteins that they code for, more effective treatments for such disorders could be developed.

By Peter Bowstead (42064365)

Photo: An MRI of brain activity.

Article Website: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126993.300-highspeed-brains-are-in-the-genes.html

Intelligence Is Genetic

A professor at the University of California, Paul Thompson, along with colleagues recently conducted research supporting the theory that our intelligence is largely determined by our genetic makeup.

Before his research had been conducted, it had been previously shown that the grey matter in the brain (which is made up of “processor” cells) and the white matter (which provides a connection between these processor cells) were heritable traits and therefore correlated to our IQ.

Thompson used a magnetic resonance imaging technique called HARDI to scan the brains of 46 sets of twins (both identical and fraternal) in order to measure the speed of nerve impulses. This is done by measuring the amount of water that diffuses through the white matter in the brain and therefore is a measure for the integrity of myelin sheathing which encases these connections.

When the images produced from the MRI scans where compared, Thompson was able to confirm that the integrity of the myelin sheath was genetically determined in the areas of the brain which are considered important for intelligence.

The revolutionary discovery through this research is that we have now found a way to genetically modify a person’s intelligence. This main manipulation would occur in the myelin and would be achieved by altering the brain's biochemistry in order to produce the desired effect of a higher IQ.

Once the genes that promote myelin of a high-quality are identified and isolated, it could lead to providing relief for people suffering from multiple sclerosis (MS), autism and attention deficit disorder (ADD) which have all been associated with a myelin sheathing of low-integrity. As well as this, it would provide the possibility of enhancing ones intelligence in order to achieve higher results throughout their education.

However, these types of treatments are still a long way off because there are still a lot of interactions that need to be “disentangled” explained Naomi Friedman (a behavioural geneticist at the University of Colorado)

By Bridget Debattista

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126993.300-highspeed-brains-are-in-the-genes.html