Why do some people think faster?

The smarter the person, the faster information zips around the brain, a UCLA study finds. And this ability to think quickly apparently is inherited. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, looked at the brains and intelligence of 92 people.

npr.org - Smart People Really Do Think Faster - NPR

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Smart People Really Do Think Faster

Enlarge this image toggle caption David Shattuck/Arthur Toga/Paul Thompson/UCLA David Shattuck/Arthur Toga/Paul Thompson/UCLA Enlarge this image toggle caption David Shattuck/Arthur Toga/Paul Thompson/UCLA David Shattuck/Arthur Toga/Paul Thompson/UCLA The smarter the person, the faster information zips around the brain, a UCLA study finds. And this ability to think quickly apparently is inherited. The study, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, looked at the brains and intelligence of 92 people. All the participants took standard IQ tests. Then the researchers studied their brains using a technique called diffusion tensor imaging, or DTI.

Capturing Mental Speed

DTI is a variant of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that can measure the structural integrity of the brain's white matter, which is made up of cells that carry nerve impulses from one part of the brain to another. The greater the structural integrity, the faster nerve impulses travel. "These images really give you a picture of the mental speed of the brain," says Paul Thompson, Ph.D., a professor of neurology at UCLA School of Medicine. They're also "the most beautiful images of the brain you could imagine," Thompson says. "My daughter, who's 5, says they look like little flowers at each point in the brain." Thompson says DTI scans of the 92 participants in the study revealed a clear link between brain speed and intelligence. "When you say someone is quick-thinking, it's genuinely true," Thompson says. "The impulses are going faster and they are just more efficient at processing information, and then making a decision based on it."

Inherited Ability

Thompson's study also found that genetic factors played a big role in brain speed. The team was able to figure this out because the 92 people in their study were all twins. Some were identical twins, who share all the same genes. Others were non-identical twins, who share only certain genes. By comparing the groups, the researchers were able to tease out genes associated with the structural integrity of white matter. And it turned out many of these genes were also associated with intelligence. Richard Haier, Ph.D., emeritus professor at the University of California, Irvine, says this may explain something scientists have been wondering about for a long time. "We know that intelligence has some genetic component," he says. "And what the Thompson study is showing is that a large part of the genetic aspect of intelligence has to do with the white matter tracks that connect different parts of the brain."

Don't Give Up Just Yet

Haier says the good news is that we're not necessarily stuck with the brain, or the brain speed, we inherit. He says thinking is like running or weightlifting. It helps to have certain genes. But anyone can get stronger or faster by working out. The brain is like a muscle, Haier says: "The more you work it the more efficient it gets." So people who practice the violin, or do math problems, or learn a foreign language are constantly strengthening certain pathways in their brains. And Thompson notes that our brains, unlike our bodies, peak relatively late in life. "The wires between the brain cells, the connections, are the things that you can modify throughout life," he says. "They change and they improve through your 40s and 50s and 60s." Thompson says there are practical, as well as academic, reasons to measure brain speed. The technique can spot problems such as Alzheimer's disease, which slows down the brain. And because the scans are so sensitive, they can show whether new drugs for Alzheimer's are actually working.

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Do males have a Barr body?

Barr Bodies can be found in various biological samples such as hair, buccal cells, and blood. Since women have two X chromosomes, one being inactivated, a single Barr Body is present in female mammal cells while males typically have no Barr Body present since they have only one X chromosome.

marc.camden.rutgers.edu - Barr Bodies: Means of sex determination - MARC

Research Study Title: Barr Bodies: Means of sex determination

PI: Kim Moran

Student Researcher: Julianna Jiminez

Barr Bodies are condensed, inactivated X chromosomes that are typically found exclusively in female mammals. Barr Bodies can be found in various biological samples such as hair, buccal cells, and blood. Since women have two X chromosomes, one being inactivated, a single Barr Body is present in female mammal cells while males typically have no Barr Body present since they have only one X chromosome. For this research study, the goal is to determine the reliability of detecting Barr Bodies in blood of an unknown sample as a method to determining sex. In the forensic science community, detecting if Barr Bodies are present is a simple and noninvasive method to determining the sex of an unknown sample of forensic significance. A buccal sample or blood droplet has the potential to quickly determine whether it originated from a male or female by detecting the presence or absence of a Barr Body. To successfully perform this experiment, 100 volunteers are needed for the study. No personal identifiers, besides the sex from which the sample came from, will be associated with the provided samples. If you are interested in participating in the study, please CLICK HERE to provide your contact information!

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