Multiple bases of human intelligence revealed by cortical thickness and neural activation.
We hypothesized that individual differences in intelligence (Spearman's g) are supported by multiple brain regions, and in particular that fluid (gF) and crystallized (gC) components of intelligence are related to brain function and structure with a distinct profile of association across brain regions. In 225 healthy young adults scanned with structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging sequences, regions of interest (ROIs) were defined on the basis of a correlation between g and either brain structure or brain function. In these ROIs, gC was more strongly related to structure (cortical thickness) than function, whereas gF was more strongly related to function (blood oxygenation level-dependent signal during reasoning) than structure. We further validated this finding by generating a neurometric prediction model of intelligence quotient (IQ) that explained 50% of variance in IQ in an independent sample. The data compel a nuanced view of the neurobiology of intelligence, providing the most persuasive evidence to date for theories emphasizing multiple distributed brain regions differing in function.
School of Biological Sciences, Interdisciplinary Program in Brain Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
Yu Yong
YY
Choi
Noah A
NA
Shamosh
Sun Hee
SH
Cho
Colin G
CG
DeYoung
Min Joo
MJ
Lee
Jong-Min
JM
Lee
Sun I
SI
Kim
Zang-Hee
ZH
Cho
Kyungjin
K
Kim
Jeremy R
JR
Gray
Kun Ho
KH
Lee
D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology
D010100:Oxygen