High IQ reduces the ability to reproduce
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Experiments of scientists at Uppsala University led to the discovery that there is a direct link between the length of the intestine, the size of the brain and mental development.
The size of the brain depends on the intelligence of the living being, scientists say that the connection between neurons plays an important role in mental development. The increase in the size of the brain and the number of neural connections led to an increase in intelligence in primates compared to other animals. However, since in the body most of the energy previously consumed the intestines and the function of reproduction of the offspring, they were partially reduced in order to free the body's resources for brain growth.
An experiment on the growth of intelligence in animals was carried out by researchers from Sweden. For several generations of guppy fish, scientists have been breeding on the basis of brain size. The divorce was taken only guppies with the smallest and largest brain. The two lines of fish that were hatched differed in brain size by an average of 10 percent. A group of fish with a large brain quickly learned to "count" - to distinguish the number of painted symbols that denoted the feeding time. Simultaneously guppies with a small brain to distinguish signs and have not learned.
It is noteworthy that in the line of stupid guppies offspring was born on average 1 fish more. After this, scientists drilled the sizes of the intestines of both fish lines, in the guppies with a small brain the intestine weighed 5.5 mg, and in the guppy with a large brain 4 mg.
Thus, scientists can conclude that the smarter the individual, the more difficult it is to multiply.
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