Factors Influencing Our Intelligence Quotient

The IQ of an individual is multifactorial and is determined by a multitude of factors.

- Dr Arun Oommen

Specific features that may affect IQ include the size and shape of the frontal lobes, the amount of blood and chemical activity in the frontal lobes, the total amount of gray matter in the brain, the overall thickness of the cortex and the glucose metabolic rate. Dr Arun Oommen MBBS,MS (Gen Surg), MCh (Neurosurgery), MRCSED,MBA Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon VPS Lakeshore Hospital NH-47, Bypass, Maradu, Nettoor PO, Kochi 682040, India.

Nature and nurture work together in determining human intelligence. Human IQ is characterised by a high level of heritability. However, various modifiable environmental factors like education, premature birth, nutrition, pollution, drug and alcohol abuse, mental illnesses, and diseases can have an influence on an individual's IQ by reinforcing or weakening genetic susceptibility.

Although IQ attempts to measure some notion of intelligence, it may fail to act as an accurate measure of "intelligence". IQ tests only examine particular areas of "intelligence", failing to account for certain areas which are also associated with "intelligence" such as creativity or emotional intelligence.