Training is the only way to improve sporting prowess but a new study reports that mental training can increase your intelligence quotient (IQ) score. And the harder you train, the more you can gain.
So-called “fluid intelligence”, or Gf, is the ability to reason, solve new problems and think in abstract. It is linked to professional and educational success and appears to be largely genetic.
A straightforward mental agility exercise reported in New Scientist has been found to increase Gf IQ scores. The first part of the exercise involves small squares on a screen that pop into a new location every three seconds. Volunteers have to press a button when the location is a duplicate of two earlier “views”.
The second part is similar, but involves letters read out through headphones. If participants perform well, the interval to be tracked increases to three or more stages earlier. Daily training for 20 minutes increased IQ scores, and those who did more training made greater improvements.
If regular mental agility training sounds too much like hard work, other methods have been suggested to boost brain power. Smart drugs like modafinil are known to boost concentration but are not yet licensed for improving examination scores.
This narcolepsy treatment can keep you awake and alert for 90 hours without any of the jitteriness or bad concentration associated with caffeine or amphetamines. It is unlikely ever to become a legitimate method of IQ improvement, however.
Dietary changes will not cause such dramatic results but, after all, you are what you eat. So healthy “brain food” is worth a try. Regular breakfasting aids concentration, antioxidants help mop up dangerous free radicals, and omega-3 fatty acids, particularly docosahexaenoic acid, may help stave off dementia.
Listening to Mozart has been shown to improve mathematical and spatial reasoning. And you do not have to be a music lover to benefit, as even rats run mazes faster and more accurately after hearing the great composer’s music.
It has been suggested, however, that these results are caused simply by participants feeling relaxed and stimulated at the same time and a comparable stimulus might do just as well.
But simple things make a big difference too. The right amount of rest and exercise are vital for peak performance. Planning, problem solving, learning, concentration, working memory and alertness all suffer after a lack of sleep. A person who has remained awake for 21 hours has the mental abilities of someone intoxicated by alcohol.
Schoolchildren who exercise three or four times a week get higher than average examination grades at age 10 or 11. It all goes to show that a healthy mind really is a by-product of a healthy body.
