Single Gene Can Boost IQ By Six Points 199
ananyo (2519492) writes "People are living longer, which is good. But old age often brings a decline in mental faculties and many researchers are looking for ways to slow or halt such decline. One group doing so is led by Dena Dubal of the University of California, San Francisco, and Lennart Mucke of the Gladstone Institutes, also in San Francisco. Dr Dubal and Dr Mucke have been studying the role in aging of klotho, a protein encoded by a gene called KL. A particular version of this gene, KL-VS, promotes longevity. One way it does so is by reducing age-related heart disease. Dr Dubal and Dr Mucke wondered if it might have similar powers over age-related cognitive decline. What they found was startling. KL-VS did not curb decline, but it did boost cognitive faculties regardless of a person's age by the equivalent of about six IQ points. If this result, just published in Cell Reports, is confirmed, KL-VS will be the most important genetic agent of non-pathological variation in intelligence yet discovered."
Re:wow, people still believe in the IQ myth? That (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Standard Deviation (Score:4, Interesting)
According to various IQ tests, I'm smarter than Einstein.
IQ tests are bullshit. Mostly because you can easily train them and gain 20-30 "points" fairly easily. Especially if you start out fairly "intelligent" already (read: share the way of thinking and the train of logic of those that design these tests) because once you play in the 150+ league, what matters is concentration and speed. Finding the logical pattern quickly and then being able to track various variables at the same time is usually the key.