Scientists have studied intelligence for years, and not once did it involve watching an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Obviously, your lifestyle plays a factor. You can improve your brainpower in a variety of ways - getting a good night's sleep, playing an instrument, reading, exercising, and using fancy words like "scintillating." Meanwhile, one scintillatingstudy revealed that all intelligent people share the key trait of "humility" (Sorry, Kanye West and Donald Trump. I guess you're not intelligent.)
But what about tracing intelligence on thegenetic level? We're all a combination of our parents. We know who to blame for our physical attributes, like our height, face and hair. But what about our mental attributes? In a report by Psychology Today, researchers analyzed the co-evolution of the brain and the conditioning of the genome. In their findings, they made a surprising discovery: children inherit their intelligence from their mothers. (Thanks for nothing, dad!)
The first study of this nature took place in 1984. There have been several studies since then, and they all lead to the conclusion that "maternal genes contribute most to the development of the thought centers in the brain." It all has to do with "conditioned genes," which are genes that "behave differently depending on their origin." If these genes are inherited from the mother, they become activated. But if the genes are inherited from the father? Deactivated. And there are genes that "work the opposite and are activated only if they come from the father." (But not in the case of intelligence.)
For the first experiment, scientists created embryos of rats that only had genes from the other, and or only had genes for the father. However, when they tried to transfer them in the uterus of an adult, the embryos died. This led to the discovery of the conditioned genes. What's more, the researchers discovered, "Those with an extra dose of maternal genes developed a bigger head and brain, but had little bodies. Conversely, those with an extra dose of paternal genes had small brains and larger bodies." We get it, researchers - guys are idiots! You don't have to keep rubbing it in!
Other studies back up this theory. As you know, women have two X chromosomes and men have an X and a Y chromosome. Since intelligence depends on the X chromosome, women are twice as likely to pass on the brains. Researchers at the University of Ulm, Germany discovered that mental disability is "30% more common in males." A medical study in Glasgow, Scotland "found that the best predictor of intelligence was the IQ of the mother." And on The Simpsons, it's pretty obvious Lisa inherited her intelligence from Marge, not from Homer.
But don't worry, guys. The researchers write note that while the "Mother’s genes go directly to the cerebral cortex, those of the father [go] to the limbic system." The limbic system deals with emotions, memories and stimulation, which play an important role in solving problems. Wait, so that means men control the genes for emotions and women control the genes for intelligence? That flips the typical gender stereotypes. That is scintillating (I think).
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