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From New Scientist
Mar. 29th, 2006 02:03 pmIntelligence has more to do with when and how the brain grows rather than its overall size, suggests a new study.
The brain's cortex thickens in childhood, reaches a peak, and then thins again in adolescence.
On the basis of IQ tests, the children were categorised as having average, high or superior intelligence.
In the brightest children, the thickness of the prefrontal cortex - a brain region thought to be responsible for many facets of intelligence - increased rapidly through their pre-teen years before thinning out again after the age of 11.
In all three groups, the children’s IQs correlated with their parents’ job and education. “The ultimate determinants of intelligence will likely prove to be a very complex mix of nature and nurture,” notes Shaw.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8914-when-it-comes-to-intelligence-size-isnt-everything.html
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Clearly, what we call intelligence is a very small part of the overall brainwork. The prefrontal cortex is responsible, among other things, for applied learning, so parents would be well advised to help their children excersise this particular brain "muscle".
Clever networked-virtual-world games could help, but they are not there yet.
The brain's cortex thickens in childhood, reaches a peak, and then thins again in adolescence.
On the basis of IQ tests, the children were categorised as having average, high or superior intelligence.
In the brightest children, the thickness of the prefrontal cortex - a brain region thought to be responsible for many facets of intelligence - increased rapidly through their pre-teen years before thinning out again after the age of 11.
In all three groups, the children’s IQs correlated with their parents’ job and education. “The ultimate determinants of intelligence will likely prove to be a very complex mix of nature and nurture,” notes Shaw.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8914-when-it-comes-to-intelligence-size-isnt-everything.html
-----
Clearly, what we call intelligence is a very small part of the overall brainwork. The prefrontal cortex is responsible, among other things, for applied learning, so parents would be well advised to help their children excersise this particular brain "muscle".
Clever networked-virtual-world games could help, but they are not there yet.
