IQ in adolescence can undergo significant changes
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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British scientists have confirmed long-standing suspicions of parents: in adolescence, IQ can grow and fall, and the structure of the brain reflects these changes.
This is the first direct evidence that the intellect changes after early childhood and the ability of the brain can be developed.
Although researchers argue that in fact IQ tests are being measured, most agree that results can predict the ability to learn and perform certain tasks, that is, to some extent they can be used to predict academic performance and productivity. It is also commonly believed that the test scores remain relatively stable throughout life.
Neurologist Cathy Price of the University College London (UK) and her colleagues tested 33 teenagers (19 boys and 14 girls) in 2004 when they were 12 to 16 years old, and in 2008, when the respondents were 15-20. Subjects performed tests for verbal (reading, naming objects) and non-verbal (solving puzzles by hands) ability. Simultaneously, with the help of magnetic resonance imaging, researchers followed the activity of the brain.
The results of the first and second tests could differ significantly - by as much as 20 points. In some adolescents, only verbal or non-verbal skills have improved or decreased, others have one parameter, and the other has fallen.
The brain, too, did not stand still. For example, in teenagers who improved their verbal test scores, the density of gray matter in the area activating speech increased. And those guys whose nonverbal skills have improved, there have been changes in the area associated with motor skills.
The main conclusion of the study is that neither early childhood nor early adolescence can predict how smart a person will become in the near future.
The reasons for this is unclear. Perhaps the role played by training and other factors that stimulate the brain (or lack thereof). There is a suspicion that in adulthood IQ does not remain constant.
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