Brain Scans Support Findings That IQ Can Rise or Fall Significantly During Adolescence

[HuckleB]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020024329.htm

"IQ, the standard measure of intelligence, can increase or fall significantly during our teenage years, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust, and these changes are associated with changes to the structure of our brains. The findings may have implications for testing and streaming of children during their school years.

...

Other studies from the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging and other research groups have provided strong evidence that the structure of the brain remains 'plastic' even throughout adult life. For example, Professor Price showed recently that guerrillas in Columbia who had learned to read as adults had a higher density of grey matter in several areas of the left hemisphere of the brain than those who had not learned to read. Professor Eleanor Maguire, also from the Wellcome Trust Centre, showed that part of a brain structure called the hippocampus, which plays an important part in memory and navigation, has greater volume in licensed London taxi drivers.

"The question is, if our brain structure can change throughout our adult lives, can our IQ also change?" adds Professor Price. "My guess is yes. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that our brains can adapt and their structure changes, even in adulthood."

"This interesting study highlights how 'plastic' the human brain is," said Dr John Williams, Head of Neuroscience and Mental Health at the Wellcome Trust. "It will be interesting to see whether structural changes as we grow and develop extend beyond IQ to other cognitive functions. This study challenges us to think about these observations and how they may be applied to gain insight into what might happen when individuals succumb to mental health disorders."

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This is extremely preliminary but still quite interesting, and it does go along with other studies on brain plasticity. Of course, we're still waiting for someone to find volunteers to study just how much IQ is lost over time per hour of watching Faux.

:hi:

[xchrom]

1. i was smarter on those few days i wasn't extremely horny. nt

[HuckleB]

4. +1

[valerief]

2. IQ tests probably change more often and more dramatically than IQ. nt

[HuckleB]

10. I'm not sure how that supposition applies to this study. -eom-

[valerief]

12. IQ is measured by tests. nt

[HuckleB]

13. Yes, it is.

And... are you saying this study used tests that changed?

[valerief]

20. They did? Wow! nt

[HuckleB]

26. .

:boring:

[MADem]

3. I'm not surprised--after all, isn't it the relationship between mental and chronological age?

Hell, if we can have physical "growth spurts," why not mental ones as well?

I have always believed that the brain is far more plastic than we give credit. When you look at what they are doing with stroke patients and others who have lost mobility and get it restored with aggressive physical therapy and "relearning/rewiring" it really is quite remarkable.

[daggahead]

5. I wonder if all that Mary Jane & beer ...

made me smarter or dumber during my misspent teenage years?

:think:

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. That's easy - MJ made you smarter; beer made you dumber.

MJ encouraged the development of more tangential neural connections; beer killed brain cells.

[HuckleB]

14. Then again...

Alcohol 'improves IQ'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1058526.stm

Why Intelligent People Drink More Alcohol
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-scientific-fundamentalist/201010/why-intelligent-people-drink-more-alcohol

[JuniperLea]

22. I smoked a huge fattie...

Every single day, sometimes two, from the age of 16 to... whenever... and I smoked a really stinky one on my way over to take my Mensa exam... nailed it! Would I have done better without? Maybe. Who knows. It didn't hurt much if it did at all, that's all I'm saying.

I think it increases bloodflow... that's almost always a good thing, especially when you're growing.

[david_vincent]

6. Am I the only one who finds it distressing, even alarming,

that the very first suggestion for a possible "use" of this discovery pertains to "testing and streaming of children"... ??

As long as we continue to think of children as subjects for "testing and streaming" then our entire school system is completely and totally fucked.

[HuckleB]

9. I took the question to be a hit against the testing and streaming of children.

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. That was my interpretation as well - if IQ is as malleable as this suggests

then that would reduce the insistence on testing and tracking, because you can't tell by the 3rd grade IQ what the 6th grade or 10th grade child might be capable of. We all know of some people who struggled through HS only to excel in college - and visa-versa.

[HuckleB]

16. Indeed. This also brings some other questions to light, as well.

One example, what about treatment for kids with autism, is discussed here:
http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2011/10/verbal-and-non-verbal-intelligence-changes-in-the-teenage-brain/

[JuniperLea]

23. It's always been so...

I was in elementary school in the 60s and I know for a fact they grouped us by IQ, and those in the top 2% were given additional "enrichment" classes a couple of times a week.

When my son was in elementary school in the 80s, his teachers had fits when we moved because his IQ boosted the average. I was never told why that meant something to them, and I bet they really didn't expect me to question.

I think it's being done, and it's always been done... and our school system is truly fucked, no question. Mainly because the bar has been lowered and kids aren't challenged.

[HuckleB]

25. Yeah, that was probably because of the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program.

Apparently, it was started shortly after the Soviets sent men into space, as everyone freaked out about the state our schools because they made it into space first.

[Quantess]

7. This isn't really news...

Plasticity of the brain is well documented. Even as adults your IQ level can go up or down, and a lot of it has to do with activities that keep your brain sharp. Brain cells die and do not regenrate, but the connections are what really matter.

[HuckleB]

8. It's documented, yes.

But there is much that is not known. Speculation from what we do know is great, but the subject is only beginning to be understood, and that's in a very crude manner.

[Hutzpa]

17. It's interesting to see how the English

can use science research to propagate false innuendos to further diminish characters of
ethnic groups, I am surprised they did not include blacks being the less intelligent in
this research. Instead the human brain power is castigated as a form of dexterity in
describing the gap between classes of people.

Case in point;

The researchers, led by Professor Cathy Price, tested 33 healthy adolescents in 2004 when they were between the ages of 12 and 16 years. They then repeated the tests four years later when the same subjects were between 15 and 20 years old. On both occasions, the researchers took structural brain scans of the subjects using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

12 and 16 years and 15 and 20 years that don't add up, but my point is, it could be that these kids were
focused more on adolescent than being politically astute? The reason that I loathe researches such as this
is that it tends to marginalize one group and project another as superior.

Ever wonder why there is class warfare? It is because of research such as this.

[HuckleB]

19. I think you're trying to connect something that's not there.

[Hutzpa]

27. No, I'm looking into perspective

there is always a motive behind researches.

[Javaman]

18. So this explains why smart kids still do dumb things.

;)

[JuniperLea]

24. As humans...

None of us are immune to dumb things:D

[apocalypsehow]

21. Mine rose or fell precipitously depending on whether I was thinking with my head or my brain....