New study says you get your intelligence from your mother
Is your child a miniature Einstein?
If so, they've got their mum to thank!
Researchers have known for years that intelligence has a hereditary component, but it had been thought that it depended more on a mix of genes from both the mother and the father.
New research suggests that mothers are responsible for passing down intelligence to their children.
As explained on the website Psychology Spot:
'Recently, researchers at the University of Ulm, Germany, studied the genes involved in the brain damage and found that many of these, especially those related to cognitive abilities, were on chromosome X. In fact, it is no coincidence that the intellectual disability is 30% more common in males.'
Earlier research supports this analysis. A 1994 study by the The Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow, Scotland surveyed 12,686 young people between the ages of 14 and 22.
They took several factors into account including the children’s IQ, race, education and socioeconomic status and the the researchers found that: 'the best predictor of intelligence was the IQ of the mother and that the ratio of young people’s intelligence varied only an average of 15 points from their mothers.'
So, if you're hoping to have intelligent offspring, start by finding yourself a brilliant woman!
