Intelligence Linked To Overall Brain Activity, Rather Than Specific Region: Study

Researchers have found evidence for a theory that views intelligence as a property of how the brain functions as a whole, rather than relating it to a specific cognitive function or brain network.

- Press Trust Of India

According to the Network Neuroscience Theory, intelligence is said to reflect how brain networks are coordinated and adapted to solve the diverse problems one encounters in life. The researchers at the US' University of Notre Dame analysed brain imaging and cognitive data of 831 adults participating in the Human Connectome Project, an initiative focused on mapping the human brain and connecting its structure to function and behaviour.

An independent group of 145 adults were also analysed.

"We found evidence for system-wide coordination in the brain that is both robust and adaptable. This coordination does not carry out cognition itself, but determines the range of cognitive’ operations the system can support,” said Ramsey Wilcox, a graduate student at the University of Notre Dame and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature Communications.