Childhood IQ and Fitness Determine Old Age Mental Function

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, October 10, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Your childhood IQ score and physical fitness may predict your mental sharpness in old age.

Researchers from Scotland studied 460 adults. Participants took the same cognitive test when they were 11 years old and when they turned 79.

Researchers found physical fitness and IQ as a child influenced mental performance as participants aged. And childhood IQ was significantly related to lung function in older adults.

"Participants with a high IQ as a child were more likely to have better lung function at age 79," reports study author Ian Deary, Ph.D., University of Edinburgh in Scotland. "This could be because people with higher intelligence might respond more favorably to health messages about staying fit."

Results show physical fitness is more important than childhood IQ in predicting cognitive ability in old age. For example, if two people have the same IQ at age 11, the one who is in better physical shape at age 79 will have better cognitive function, on average.

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SOURCE: Neurology, 2006;67:1195