Intelligence Quotient, also known as IQ, is a score that is taken from one of multiple standardized tests, with the ultimate objective of testing intelligence. There has been plenty of debate over whether or not age and health affect Studies have shown that individuals deficient in micronutrients have significant difficulty developing cognitive ability, and this correlates to lower scores on IQ tests. IQ test scores, some say it does, some say it doesn’t. People have speculated that as age declines, so does IQ test scores, and some say that as health declines, independent or dependent of age, as does your IQ test scores, but this has largely just been speculation. However, over the past few years, research has begun to bring some concrete evidence to the table, and remove the speculation and replace it with actual data.
Age as a Factor in IQ Test Performance
Studies show that as you grow older there is an increased risk of your performance on IQ tests diminishing.
The results of this experiment were not shocking, if one believed the aforementioned speculation of IQ declining as age declines, as the first of the two tests showed that the college students were 34% faster than the older adults (1), which is quite a substantial difference. The younger students were over a third faster than the elderly adults at the coding tasks, which, when applied to the workplace or an academic setting, is quite a large difference.
Your Health and Your IQ Test Scores
The second factor that has been speculated to affect IQ test scores is poor health. Studies have shown that individuals deficient in micronutrients have significant difficulty developing cognitive ability, and this correlates to lower scores on IQ tests. For example, one study showed that individuals who were deficient in iodine scored on average 12 points less on IQ tests. (2) Considering the average IQ test score is 100, a 12 point drop is quite substantial, and shows that just one micronutrient deficiency can cause a significant decrease in test scores.
Improving Your Diet and Your IQ Test Results
A proper diet and good health can lead to higher IQ test scores.
Even the nutrition of pregnant women can have an effect on the IQ scores of their children, as one study showed that pregnant women who consumed fish that contained fatty acids were less likely to give birth to children with lower verbal IQ test scores, among other cognitive measures such as behavioural problems and motor issues. (4) This study noted that many fish that contain fatty acids also have mercury present, which can cause mercury poisoning, but fish containing lower amounts of mercury had benefits that outweighed the slight risk of mercury poisoning. Had the mothers consumed fish that contained high amounts of mercury, the benefits would not outweigh the risk, as extremely high amounts of mercury can cause lower IQ scores due to causing mental retardation.
Exercise Your Brain
On the aging side of things, all hope is not lost either. Researchers once believed that so called mental training exercises could not increase IQ scores, but Susanne Jaeggi and her colleagues at the University of Michigan have a differing opinion, and the experimental data to back it up.
Exercising your brain, whether its going back to school to study or by doing brain exercises every day, can help improve your IQ test results.
The results were extremely positive, showing that the IQ significantly increased in individuals who received the training, and there was a correlation between the amount of training received, and the higher the score on the IQ test. While the test only involved 70 adults, the results are still very positive, and further research in this area is being planned.
Improved Health and Brain Exercises Equals Improved IQ Test Scores
So while the initial statement that IQ does decline as age increases, this can be countered by maintaining a healthy diet, and performing so called brain exercises. While you might be of average weight, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a healthy, well balanced diet, so it needs to be looked at with care. Your micronutrient needs might not be being met by your daily food intake, so reassessing your diet is one thing to consider, or adding a nutritional supplement which contains the needed micronutrients could be your solution. So whether you’re afraid of a lower IQ due to age, or due to health, just remember that nothing is absolute, and you have the power to change the downward slope, and maintain, or possibly even raise your IQ scores.
References to Age and Health: How They Affect IQ Test Scores
- 1) Age effects in coding tasks: Componential analysis and test of the sensory deficit hypothesis. Gilmore, Grover C.; Spinks, Ruth A.; Thomas, Cecil W. Psychology and Aging, Vol 21(1), Mar 2006, 7-18. doi:
- 2) “The effects of iodine on intelligence in children: a meta-analysis of studies conducted in China”. Qian M, Wang D, Watkins WE, et al. Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 14 (1) (2005). : 32
- 3) “Schooling, educational achievement, and cognitive functioning among young Guatemalan adults”. Stein AD, Behrman JR, DiGirolamo A,et al. Food Nutr Bull 26 (2 Suppl 1) (June 2005). : S46–54.
- 4) Maternal seafood consumption in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood (ALSPAC study): an observational cohort study Hibbeln JR, Davis JM, Steer C, Emmett P, Rogers I, Williams C, Golding J. (Feb 2007)
- 5) Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory, ^ Jaeggi, S. M., Buschkuehl, M., Jonides, J., Perrig, W. J. I Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 105 no. 19 (2008)
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