Higher Intelligence / Fewer Neuronal Connections

[hazelm]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180517102236.htm

 

I was writing this and somehow lost it.  So, it  may appear here twice.  Sorry if it does. 

 

Ignoring the debate of "what is intelligence" - they are using the IQ test in their observations - it seems more intelligent people can simply do more mental work with fewer neurons. No surprise in that? The other neurons are there but not connected because they are not used?  Am I reading rightly?   Biologically speaking,  wouldn't the neurons have to have connected first before a need to use intelligence?  Or do the connections only fall into place once a person starts trying to perform mental work?  Or, is it a case of the brain producing only what the mind foresees as necessary?

 

This certainly raises a lot of questions in my mind.

[Vmedvil2]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180517102236.htm

 

I was writing this and somehow lost it.  So, it  may appear here twice.  Sorry if it does. 

 

Ignoring the debate of "what is intelligence" - they are using the IQ test in their observations - it seems more intelligent people can simply do more mental work with fewer neurons. No surprise in that? The other neurons are there but not connected because they are not used?  Am I reading rightly?   Biologically speaking,  wouldn't the neurons have to have connected first before a need to use intelligence?  Or do the connections only fall into place once a person starts trying to perform mental work?  Or, is it a case of the brain producing only what the mind foresees as necessary?

 

This certainly raises a lot of questions in my mind.

 

 

It could be that the higher intelligence brain's neurons have more states of electrical stimulation that they go into that is why there are less connections because there are more states of electrical charge of the neurons. Computers use binary calculations either 1 or 0 being 0 or +5 Volts, the human brain has atleast 256 different states that cause these calculations to be successful completed it is possible that there are more states that these brains use with higher intelligence more than 256 states of electrical polarization giving each individual neuron more processing power, kinda like a Qubit versus a binary bit more information can be stored on the Qubit because of more states. This is just speculation, but it made sense when I was thinking about the reason smarter people's brains would have less connections.

Edited July 1, 2018 by VictorMedvil

[hazelm]

It could be that the higher intelligence brain's neurons have more states of electrical stimulation that they go into that is why there are less connections because there are more states of electrical charge of the neurons. Computers use binary calculations either 1 or 0 being 0 or +5 Volts, the human brain has atleast 256 different states that cause these calculations to be successful completed it is possible that there are more states that these brains use with higher intelligence more than 256 states of electrical polarization giving each individual neuron more processing power, kinda like a Qubit versus a binary bit more information can be stored on the Qubit because of more states. This is just speculation, but it made sense when I was thinking about the reason smarter people's brains would have less connections.

I also read and wondered about that.  Could the answer be in this paragraph near the end?

 

(quote)  the brains of intelligent people demonstrated less neuronal activity during an IQ test than the brains of less intelligent individuals.

"Intelligent brains possess lean, yet efficient neuronal connections," concludes Erhan Genç. "Thus, they boast high mental performance at low neuronal activity."

 

So, were they simply using the IQ test as a means of seeing how the neurons, etc., react, how much of the brain they need to give an answer?  I do agree with you, though.  If their IQ test was anything like the one I once took, a fourth grader could have scored at least average if not high.  The higher the IQ, the more the questions required no thought at all.

 

In addition, that's a terribly brief report.  Does it seem to you that much is missing in this summary?

[Vmedvil2]

I also read and wondered about that.  Could the answer be in this paragraph near the end?

 

(quote)  the brains of intelligent people demonstrated less neuronal activity during an IQ test than the brains of less intelligent individuals.

"Intelligent brains possess lean, yet efficient neuronal connections," concludes Erhan Genç. "Thus, they boast high mental performance at low neuronal activity."

 

So, were they simply using the IQ test as a means of seeing how the neurons, etc., react, how much of the brain they need to give an answer?  I do agree with you, though.  If their IQ test was anything like the one I once took, a fourth grader could have scored at least average if not high.  The higher the IQ, the more the questions required no thought at all.

 

In addition, that's a terribly brief report.  Does it seem to you that much is missing in this summary?

 

 

The human brain is one of the last frontiers of science much like space is the last frontier of exploration, not much is actually known about the human brain and its functioning despite having lived with them for a great deal of time, but yes that is a brief summary more exacting details could have been said, but is it possible that we don't know, the answers or a final conclusion about this subject?

Edited July 1, 2018 by VictorMedvil

[hazelm]

The human brain is one of the last frontiers of science much like space is the last frontier of exploration, not much is actually known about the human brain and its functioning despite having lived with them for a great deal of time, but yes that is a brief summary more exacting details could have been said, but is it possible that we don't know, the answers or a final conclusion about this subject?

Is there ever a final answer?  About the time we think we have it, something new pops up.    Speaking of such,  June issue of Scientific American has a special report from Nature titled "Innovations - The Biggest Questions in Science".  It asks "What is ,xxxxx?" of many topics and goes into what is not yet known and what someone is working on.  Examples:  What is Space-Time?  What is Dark Matter?  What is Consciousness?  (can't say I cared much for that one.)  How did Life Begin?  (a short, fast learning trip is that one)  "What are the Limits of Manipulating Nature?"  (a worrisome question for some of us).  A lot of others if it entices you.

[Vmedvil2]

Is there ever a final answer?  About the time we think we have it, something new pops up.    Speaking of such,  June issue of Scientific American has a special report from Nature titled "Innovations - The Biggest Questions in Science".  It asks "What is ,xxxxx?" of many topics and goes into what is not yet known and what someone is working on.  Examples:  What is Space-Time?  What is Dark Matter?  What is Consciousness?  (can't say I cared much for that one.)  How did Life Begin?  (a short, fast learning trip is that one)  "What are the Limits of Manipulating Nature?"  (a worrisome question for some of us).  A lot of others if it entices you.

 

There is always a final answer when we fully understand something like we fully understand paper, once we understand something so well that we truly forget there was any mystery about the subject at all ever.