What causes low intelligence? (2023)

What causes lack of intelligence?

The causes are numerous: hereditary factors; genetic abnormalities (e.g. Down's syndrome); poor prenatal care; infections during pregnancy; abnormal delivery; illness during infancy; toxic substances (e.g. consumption of alcohol by the pregnant mother; exposure of the child to lead, mercury or other environmental ...

Although science is on the fence about whether you can raise your IQ or not, research does seem to suggest that it's possible to raise your intelligence through certain brain-training activities. Training your memory, executive control, and visuospatial reasoning can help to boost your intelligence levels.

They can, but it's not just that. It's that IQ is a very noisy measure of all intellectual talents averaged together, and some people with unimpressive general IQs can still be extremely talented in particular fields. Even such a stereotypically intellectual pursuit as chess only correlates with IQ at 0.24.

Intelligence is also strongly influenced by the environment. During a child's development, factors that contribute to intelligence include their home environment and parenting, education and availability of learning resources, and healthcare and nutrition.

The SSA has a disability listing for "intellectual disorder" (previously it used the term "intellectual disability," and before that, "mental retardation"). A person can be automatically approved for disability based on low IQ if he or she meets all of the criteria in the SSA's listing.

Encourage questions. If you want to help less intelligent people learn, you need to make them feel comfortable asking questions. If they feel intimidated by your superior intellect, they may be ashamed to show their lack of knowledge by asking questions, which will inhibit them from learning anything new.

People in the lower IQ range are more likely to have lower-than-average incomes, the researchers explained. There is also a higher incidence of common mental disorders and suicidal behaviors among individuals with lower IQs.

stupidity. noun. lack of intelligence or thought.

Does IQ matter with age?

The takeaway:

Your individual IQ will not change as you age, but on average our intelligence does decrease with age.

Science supports laziness

The data found that those with a high IQ got bored less easily, leading them to be less active and spend more time engaged in thought.

ADHD is often also associated with lower intelligence quotient (IQ; e.g., Crosbie and Schachar, 2001). For instance, Frazier et al. (2004) reported in their meta-analysis that in comparison to individuals without ADHD, individuals with ADHD score an average of 9 points lower on most commercial IQ tests.

The brain is the most complex part of the human body. This three-pound organ is the seat of intelligence, interpreter of the senses, initiator of body movement, and controller of behavior.

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.

Overall, larger brain size and volume is associated with better cognitive functioning and higher intelligence. The specific regions that show the most robust correlation between volume and intelligence are the frontal, temporal and parietal lobes of the brain.

In general, an IQ test is used to evaluate a person's reasoning and problem-solving skills. Some of the most widely used IQ tests include: Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V) Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Adults (WAIS)

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.

They're open-minded.

Smart people don't close themselves off to new ideas or opportunities. Hammett writes that intelligent people are “willing to accept and consider other views with value and broad-mindedness” and that they are “open to alternative solutions.”

What is mild mental retardation?

Definition. Mild mental retardation is defined as significantly subaverage intellectual ability, which ranges between 50–55 and 70, and concurrent delays in adaptive functioning that present prior to the age of 18.

The common types of intellectual disabilities include autism, Down syndrome, fragile x syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, and Prader-Willi syndrome.

Schizophrenia and related disorders, other psychotic disorders, adjustment, personality, alcohol and substance-use-related disorders were significantly associated with low IQ scores, but this association remained significant for the four non-psychotic disorders only when adjusting for comorbid diagnoses.

In that study Koenen et al. found that high IQ protected against anxiety, social phobia and PTSD, while low IQ was a risk factor for anxiety, schizophrenia and depression [9].

The more that you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow. Then, things that you once found very hard or even impossible to do—like speaking a foreign language or doing algebra—seem to become easy. The result is a stronger, smarter brain.

Spatial intelligence or picture smart is a quality that is perhaps the rarest of all the nine Howard Gardner categorized.

The European study, which was released this week, found evidence that we tend to hit our cognitive maximum around age 35 and remain there until about age 45, at which point a long, slow decline takes hold.

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.

What age is your brain the sharpest?

They conclude that humans reach their cognitive peak around the age of 35 and begin to decline after the age of 45. And our cognitive abilities today exceed those of our ancestors. “Performance reveals a hump-shaped pattern over the life cycle,” report the authors in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Nope. While they might have high standards and big picture concerns, research shows that people with high IQs are actually more likely to be happy; data from the research showed that people with the highest IQs were much happier than those with the lowest IQs.

High IQ may “mask” the diagnosis of ADHD by compensating for deficits in executive functions in treatment-naïve adults with ADHD.

So many people with ADHD have higher IQs than those without ADHD and vice-versa. Moreover, studies of people with high IQs support the idea that ADHD can be validly diagnosed among very intelligent individuals.

ADHD is not, in and of itself, a gift. It is a disorder that often leads to significant challenges in various aspect of one's life. And each person with ADHD has a unique profile of symptoms and difficulties.

The five factors being tested are knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, working memory, and fluid reasoning. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is a test designed to measure intelligence in adults and older adolescents.

You can have a high IQ, but lack education and general knowledge. You can earn a degree yet score a lower IQ. IQ tests measure your ability to reason, grasp ideas, and solve problems.

What things decrease intelligence?

“Cognitive decline may begin after midlife, but most often occurs at higher ages (70 or higher).” (Aartsen, et al., 2002) “… relatively little decline in performance occurs until people are about 50 years old.” (Albert & Heaton, 1988).

Your cognitive abilities would level off at around middle age, and then start to gradually decline. We now know this is not true. Instead, scientists now see the brain as continuously changing and developing across the entire life span. There is no period in life when the brain and its functions just hold steady.

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.

The cerebello-parietal component and the frontal component were significantly associated with intelligence. The parietal and frontal regions were each distinctively associated with intelligence by maintaining structural networks with the cerebellum and the temporal region, respectively.

According to many recent studies, genetics plays a bigger role in making someone smart or not than what was initially expected or hoped for. Several studies with twins² and studies with fraternal siblings have identified intelligence as one of the highest heritable traits.

However, there is also a lot of research that shows that depression actively leads to a detrimental development of the frontal lobe, ultimately affecting your intelligence and lowering your IQ because you're simply too depressed to think straight, or can't complete certain cognitive tasks anymore.

Studies have also found that higher IQ is associated with more mental illness, including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.