In a significant advance in the study of our mental abilities, a team of European and American scientists announces the identification of 41 new genes related to intelligence. It is undoubtedly the largest genomic study on the basis of intelligence to date, having examined the genomes of 78,000 people in a total of 13 previous studies.
While it is true that these genes alone do not determine intelligence , the researchers suggest that their combined influence is miniscule, so it is likely that thousands of more genes are involved, waiting to be discovered.
However, this discovery could allow the initiation of new experiments on the biological bases of reasoning and problem solving , or even help researchers determine which interventions would be most effective for children with learning disabilities. Since, for example, they also found a surprising connection between intelligence and autism that could help shed light on the origins of this disorder.
Together, the new batch of “smart genes” accounted for 20% of IQ test results among tens of thousands of people tested. “For the first time, we were able to detect a substantial amount of genetic effects on IQ,” said Danielle Posthuma, leader of the work.
Most of the newly discovered genetic variants linked to a high IQ play a key role in regulating brain cell development, especially in neuronal differentiation and the formation of neural information gateways known as synapses.
To contrast the results, the researchers separately verified the 13 databases used, in which each of them had used slightly different IQ tests , with the 52 genetic variants discovered, to see if the combined clash between intelligence and genetic profile was maintained. So it was. Statistically, the higher the intelligence, the greater the head circumference in childhood, the greater the body height or the greater probability of quitting smoking.
Therefore, 52 of the most important genes related to intelligence have been detected, but there are many, many more, yet to be discovered.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Genetics.
