Team of scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology has explored the relationship between the size of the pupils and the intellect of 500 volunteers from Atlanta aged 18 to 35 years. They were offered to pass tests on thinking, attention and memory. It turned out that the expansion of pupils shows not only the excitement or exhaustion, but may be a marker of individual differences in intelligence. The more pupils, the higher the intellect, the experts in the research published on the pages of the Cognition magazine.
Differences in the initial size of the pupil between those who scored the highest and lowest points over the tests on intelligence, it was possible to see the naked eye. And this may be due to the fact that people with large pupils have the best brain activity in the area associated with intelligence and memory. Scientists also noted the negative dependence between the size of the pupil and age: the elderly volunteers, as a rule, were smaller in size and more narrowed pupils.
The size of the pupil is associated with the area known as Locus Coeruleus – the blue spot in the top brain barrel, which extends the rest of it through the neural connections. It releases the chemical extension that functions as a hormone in the brain and the body, and as the neurotransmitter acts for regular processes of the type of perception, attention and memory. The same area plays an important role, helping remote areas of the brain to work together to perform complex tasks.
Research the scientists formulated as follows: People with large pupils have better regulation of processes in this area of the brain, which improves its cognitive and functional abilities.
Previously, Scottish scientists found out the source of high intelligence in children. A group of researchers from Edinburgh University (Scotland) conducted a large-scale study by comparing DNA variations of more than 240 thousand people from around the world and found more than 500 genes that are associated with intelligence.