FRANKFURT, Germany — Brainiacs happen to have thinking organs that are physically designed to outperform, a new study finds.
Researchers at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany looked at brain scans of more than 300 participants, while simultaneously consulting graph theoretical network analysis methods, to try to determine what helps form human intelligence.
Explaining how the brain’s many regions interact with others to varying degrees — think of smaller social groups within broader society— the researchers more specifically sought to understand whether the wiring of certain regions was different among people depending on their level of intelligence.
“This is similar to a social network which consists of multiple sub-networks (e.g., families or circles of friends). Within these sub-networks or modules, the members of one family are more strongly interconnected than they are with people from other families or circles of friends. Our brain is functionally organized in a very similar way,” the researchers explain in a university release.
They found that in more intelligent individuals, two regions associated with the cognitive processing of task-relevant information — the anterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex — were more tightly connected to other functional areas of the brain.
Meanwhile, an area known as the temporo-parietal junction was found to be less strongly connected to other parts of the brain in these participants, indicating to researchers that intelligent individuals can more easily discern between useless and useful details.
“The different topological embedding of these regions into the brain network could make it easier for smarter persons to differentiate between important and irrelevant information— which would be advantageous for many cognitive challenges,” argues Ulrike Basten, the study’s principal investigator.
Ultimately, the anatomy of a smart person’s brain may also provide them with an increased capacity to focus and avoid distraction.
“We assume that network properties we have found in more intelligent persons help us to focus mentally and to ignore or suppress irrelevant, potentially distracting inputs,” Basten says.
Although the exact causes of differing brain biochemistry are still unknown, the researchers believe that both genetic and environmental factors are likely at play.
If you’d ultimately like a more efficient brain, giving it regular exercise through challenging cognitive tasks might just be what the doctor ordered.
Basten et al. published their findings Nov. 22 in the journal Scientific Reports.
No kidding, I’ve always said, you can’t fix stupid, liberals are quantifiable evidence.
This is just scientific data proving out something already intuitively known by smart people.
This is a load of garbage. We’re always looking for a medical explanation for our woes. These connections evolve through education and wisdom, rather than genetic predisposition. So, if you’re no so smart, you can work at it, and get smart. Seems like that’s obvious, and we don’t need a study for it.
Propensity
duh, right? of course smarter people have better brains… this is just starting to crack the surface of what efficient wiring really is.
There’s a HUGE problem with intelligence inequality in the United States today. Anyone that tests higher than 85 should be thrown in prison for life!
who would pay the taxes?
Lol! Crazy scientists. There are no wires in the brain.
No. Research along these lines must be banned. They have clearly identified a genetic predisposition for intelligence. The next step would be to identify which groups have that genetic predisposition. That question must never be asked, much less answered. We must continue with the fiction that, although one group is accepted as genetically advantaged physically (faster, bigger, stronger), all groups are equal intellectually. Liberals will throw temper tantrums, and hold their breath until they turn blue, if that belief is scientifically questioned.
Watson, of Watson and Frick fame-the double helix and all that-already did reveal when certain subsets of our society are inferior. Not perjorative, just fact. Watson has been a pariah ever since disclosing the truth.
Hmmm. I wonder if the scientists would happen to have the races and genders of the participants as well. Are we to believe they didn’t log that data? I wonder what it shows….
But that’s considered racism and white privilege these days by the Dems/Leftists/Socialists/Communists/Globalists… one must not act high performing so as to not oppress the low performers.
Public school
Libs have brains that are disconnected…from reality.
Up next
Grass is green…
WELL THEN MOST OF THE SMART FOLKS WE KNOW CERTAINLY DON’T ATTEND MODERN DAY UNIVERSITIES OR COLLEGES. MOST OF THOSE FOLKS ARE PRETTY FREAKING STUPID WHEN IT COMES TO EVERYDAY LIVING .
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5, He answered my prayers and gives me great knowledge and understanding beyond measure. Surrender and deal your faults, and be Blessed🌹💜😃
It seems obvious that not all brains work the same way. But there are a variety of ways for some sort of “superiority” to manifest itself. Many of the best chess players were child prodigies. Same with musicians, and mathematicians, etc. But these superiorities don’t necessarily carry over into other aspects of thinking. Remember the “Rain Man”. Folks like him were once called Idiot savants. There is a new politically correct term that I don’t remember. There are folks with astounding memory. So, not all brains are wired the same.
I would like to see a study to ferret out a possible direct relation between obesity and body weight.
And these structural and performance issues are, no doubt, genetically based and inherited.
Are these differences traceable across racial groups?
intelligence, like stupidity is an inherit trait.
Montessori method?