Children who scored in the top 50% of the population for intelligence and dependability were in one study11 more than twice as likely to survive to their late sixties as children scoring in the bottom half for both.
There is an impressive, staircase-like correlation between IQ score and risk of death. The people with higher IQ scores were less likely to be dead at the follow-up. One million people of the same gender and the same age, and an almost perfect correlation between IQ and risk of death.
Part of it seems to be the lifestyle choices that smarter people tend to make: namely, that they smoke at much lower rates. Similarly, smarter people are more likely to follow other healthy practices, have a better handle on their health care, and be less likely to work in a job that puts them at physical risk.
Let's break that down a little: smarter people tend, on average, to also be more open to new experiences. And it's not a huge shock that having new experiences and feeling wonder at the world are associated with a youthful outlook. That curiosity and playfulness, in turn, may actually slow physical aging.
In addition to slowing down physically, most people lose points on intelligence tests as they enter their golden years. Now, new research suggests the loss of certain types of cognitive skills with age may stem from problems with basic sensory tasks, such as making quick judgments based on visual information.
Scientists have long known that our ability to think quickly and recall information, also known as fluid intelligence, peaks around age 20 and then begins a slow decline.
For example, raw speed in processing information appears to peak around age 18 or 19, then immediately starts to decline. Meanwhile, short-term memory continues to improve until around age 25, when it levels off and then begins to drop around age 35.
Studies large and small have linked smarts with the likelihood of living to old age. For example, a study of people born in Scotland that was published in 2001 in the British Medical Journal found that the higher people scored on an IQ test at age 11, the more likely they were to survive to at least age 76.
Studies show that night owls and those who wake up later actually are smarter and more creative than their early rising counterparts. They also have higher IQs according to The Independent. Unfortunately, night owls have slightly lower academic scores than early risers (by about 8%).
Researchers note that education seems to have a protective effect on aging. This may be because accumulated knowledge from education contributes to cognitive reserve, so as our minds decline, those who learned more when they were younger are better able to cope.
The lowest IQ score is 0/200, but nobody in recorded history has officially scored 0. Any result below 75 points is an indicator of some form of mental or cognitive impairment.
Did you know that insomnia is more common for those who have a high IQ. Intelligent people have a harder time switching off their brain. So, maybe you are just too clever to snooze! Don't panic, high IQ or not, cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia can help you.
This isn't necessarily true, and while not all quiet people are necessarily smart, highly intelligent people will often refrain from speaking if they are accessing a situation. They will take some time to think about what was said and prepare an adequate response, and they find silence better than pointless small talk.
Studies have also found that higher IQ is associated with more mental illness, including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.
Maintaining five healthy habits — eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, keeping a healthy body weight, not drinking too much alcohol, and not smoking — during adulthood may add more than a decade to life expectancy, according to a new study led by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
In 2012, Vanderbilt University psychology researchers found that people with higher IQs tend to earn higher incomes, on average, than those with lower IQs. Past studies have also shown that high IQs are comparably reliable in predicting academic success, job performance, career potential and creativity.
Those with an IQ of over 125 tended to go to bed around 12:30 a.m. and wake up around 8:00 a.m. on weekdays, and to go to bed around 1:45 a.m. and wake up around 11:00 a.m. on weekends. Those of normal intelligence tended to sleep from 12:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. on weekdays and from 1:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. on weekends.
Science agrees. A 2016 study published in Journal of Research in Personality found that people with high IQs tend to procrastinate more, if only because high intelligence affords the luxury of waiting to begin a task. So if you put something off just because you don't feel like working on it, that's one thing.
Summary. Geniuses are both born and made. While genetics can explain up to 75% of variations in IQ levels, factors like socioeconomic status and home environment decide whether a person achieves their full genetic IQ potential.
IQ peaks and stops increasing at around 20 years of age and then is mostly fixed for life. IQ peaks at around 20-years-old and later effort will not improve it much beyond this point, research finds.
Researchers have previously shown that a person's IQ is highly influenced by genetic factors, and have even identified certain genes that play a role. They've also shown that performance in school has genetic factors. But it's been unclear whether the same genes that influence IQ also influence grades and test scores.
Like most aspects of human behavior and cognition, intelligence is a complex trait that is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Intelligence is challenging to study, in part because it can be defined and measured in different ways.
The brain's capacity for memory, reasoning and comprehension skills (cognitive function) can start to deteriorate from age 45, finds research published on bmj.com today.
Although there are no standard IQ levels of intellectual giftedness, some experts suggest the following IQ ranges: Mildly gifted: 115 to 129. Moderately gifted: 130 to 144. ighly gifted: 145 to 159.