IQ (Intelligence Quotient) is a measure developed
from a series of standardized test to measure and compare intelligence
among humans. Having a high IQ doesn’t really mean you’re going to be
successful in life, but it certainly can help make certain aspects of
life easier – especially when it comes to scholastic activities.
Although it was once thought that IQ remained static throughout a
person’s adulthood, there is some evidence that people can increase
their intelligence quotient.
Activities that are healthy for your brain are generally related to
helping boost IQ. There are links between IQ scores and: social status,
parenting, mortality, and morbidity. Additionally, IQ scores can
sometimes predict: job performance, educational advancement, income,
whether you commit a crime, and special needs. As a human population, IQ
has been rising at an average rate of three points per decade since the
1930’s – this is called “The Flynn effect.”
11 Ways to Increase IQ
1. Exercise
People who exercise tend to have higher IQ scores than those who
don’t. On average, individuals that take care of their bodies tend to be
more intelligent than the chronic couch potatoes. Exercise is known to
stimulate brain cell growth through a process called neurogenesis and
flood the brain with pleasurable neurotransmitters like dopamine. Fitter
individuals in high school are more likely to go on to college and do
well there.
A lot of people don’t realize how powerful an effect rigorous
exercise can have on decreasing stress and improving cognitive
performance. I tend to think that exercise is one of the easiest ways to
boost your IQ simply because it’s free and you can do it any time
that’s convenient.
2. Stimulants and Nootropics (Smart Drugs)
Taking smart drugs like Adderall and NuVigil may help boost your IQ
score. The abuse of these psychostimulants and cognitive enhancers is
becoming more common these days to help people dominate the competition.
They help people get into universities and graduate with good grades.
These drugs will help you learn quicker and retain more information.
There are many other enhancers like Ritalin on the market which
stimulate the brain and boost brain power.
Any pill that increases your overall cognitive ability is going to
help you improve your IQ score and performance on an IQ test. These are
referred to by many as “smart drugs” for a reason. In my opinion, these
boost mental brain power similar to taking steroids for improved
physical abilities. Should you decide to take these medications to
simply improve your cognition, just know that what comes up must come
down.
Eventually your tolerance is going to increase to the point where
these no longer have an effect and withdrawal is generally tougher than
most people admit. If there were one item on this list I would probably
not want to get caught up in heavily, it would be the use of these smart
drugs.
3. Supplements
There are a variety of supplements that you can take to help boost
your IQ. Will taking all of these supplements help you increase your IQ?
Really the only way to find out is to experiment for yourself and see
what happens. One of the most common ways to get a quick IQ boost is to
drink some caffeine because it helps stimulate brain activity.
Caffeine + L-theanine – In combination these substances help improve performance on cognitively demanding tasks.
Creatine – Has been shown to help improve brain performance.
Ginkgo Biloba – Has been shown to help improve attention in healthy young volunteers.
Omega 3 Fatty Acids – Improves working memory.
4. Meditation
It is known that meditation can help decrease stress, improve mood,
and light up brain activity. Additionally, it can increase performance
on intelligence-related measures and increase IQ scores over time. There
are many different types of meditation that can be practiced, but one
that has been proven effective is Transcendental Meditation. Nearly all
types of meditation will improve general brain functioning and
cognition, so if you are already practicing your IQ and cognition should
continue to improve.
Transcendental meditation involves sitting peacefully with one’s eyes
closed and focusing on a specific mantra. This helps your brain focus
on one specific thing at a time and can help improve overall focus.
Although there are many different types of meditation, if you want to
improve your IQ score, I would recommend a focus-oriented approach. In
other words, choose a type of concentration meditation as opposed to
mindfulness meditation.
5. Healthy Diet + Vegetarian?
Researchers have found that diet does play a role in IQ and brain
development throughout childhood. The degree to which IQ is affected
later in life by food choices isn’t as well documented. However, if you
want to boost your intelligence, it is best to avoid eating processed
foods. Individuals who eat a lot of processed foods tend to have lower
intelligence scores than people who eat healthier non-processed items.
The researchers found that diet influenced IQ regardless of other
factors.
Another interesting finding was that individuals that reported being a
vegetarian by age 30 had scored (on average) 5 points higher on IQ
tests than those who were non-vegetarian. Since higher IQ’s are linked
with: less obesity, healthier hearts, and living a longer life – some
researchers suggest vegetarianism may play a role. Theres a link between
healthier lives and IQ, and a link between higher IQ and vegetarianism.
Does that mean there’s a link between vegetarianism and health?
Possibly – more research needs to be conducted for me to believe that
being a vegetarian increases IQ especially because I tend to think meats
and fish are healthy for the brain.
6. Neurofeedback
Although there aren’t many studies linking neurofeedback with
improvements in IQ scores, there is evidence that it can help increase
intelligence among individuals with ADD and ADHD. People with ADD and
ADHD tend to have slower brain wave activity in certain brain regions
compared to normal individuals. Training their brains to speed up
production of brain waves in specific regions can help them perform
better and improve their intelligence scores.
Despite the fact that neurofeedback isn’t used much other than to
help with cases of ADD and ADHD, it does have potential to improve
cognitive performance in a normal brain as well. If the brain wave
patterns are slightly abnormal on the EEG, uptraining SMR, low beta, or
mid range beta may help improve intelligence.
7. Brainwave Entrainment
In most therapies involving brain waves, the purpose is to help
people who struggle with ADD and ADHD. People that don’t have any major
problems with focus or concentration likely don’t need brain wave
stimulation to help them improve their intelligence. Despite the fact
that brainwave entrainment has only been studied in people with ADD and
ADHD to determine whether it would boost IQ, it was effective and
increasing the GPAs of college students.
Additionally, low levels of gamma brain waves have been linked to
brain development problems and mental retardation. Gamma waves are the
range higher than beta waves and at 40 Hz or 40 cycles per second, they
are claimed to be associated with peak cognitive functioning –
especially in regards to memory and perception. That does NOT
necessarily mean that if you up-train gamma you will automatically
become “in the zone” or develop an awesome memory.
I am a bit skeptical of most brainwave research out because it seems
to be largely conducted and pushed by companies selling
brainwave-related products. Based on what I’ve read it seems as though
targeted uptraining of certain frequencies help individuals with ADD and
ADHD more than anyone. There is still relatively little research
involving brainwave entrainment in general – more needs to be conducted.
8. Brain Games, Brain Training, Puzzles
Many people swear by doing crossword puzzles and sudokus to keep
their brain as sharp as possible. Companies that sell brain related
puzzles and games tend to market the fact that they will help you boost
your IQ and become smarter. What these games have potential to do is
give your brain some exercise. They make you think and put forth some
mental effort which is a good thing.
- Crossword puzzles – Crosswords make people think and can keep your brain stimulated.
- Lumosity – There are specific brain training protocols on this website.
- Puzzles – Other types of puzzles that make you think and focus are good for your brain.
- Video games – Games like brain age and big brain academy may help your cognition.
- Sudoku – This is a popular game involving logic and numbers.
It was found that “memory training” helped give kids an IQ boost.
Most of these games will help stimulate brain activity, thinking, and
memory. If you are going to use a brain game in attempt to boost your
IQ, research the program and determine whether others have had success
with it as well.
9. Enriched Environment
Some agree that one of the most important things for developing a
higher IQ is to grow up in an enriched environment. Many believe that
individuals who grow up in an enriched environment tend to be smarter
and have a higher socioeconomic status than those who do not. Although I
think genetics plays a big role in determining intelligence, I think
growing up in an enriched environment during pivotal developmental years
can play a role too.
- Active learning – Actively learning new things helps your
brain learn and may help you make connections that before were not
possible. Learning a new skill such as chess, how to play a sport, how
to juggle, or anything new for that matter – may help your brain in ways
you never thought possible.
- New experiences – In addition to actively learning or
engaging your brain to learn new things, new experiences can also help
rewire and increase your intelligence. Something like taking a trip to a
foreign country, becoming fluent in their language, and lifestyle is
going to have an influence on your brain.
Although heredity plays a major role in the development of IQ, there
is evidence that environment still plays a role. It is best to stimulate
your brain as much as possible while growing up before the brain
reaches adulthood. There are plenty of studies conducted on enriched
environment vs. non-enriched environment – the enriched environment will
produce a higher IQ.
10. Intermittent Fasting (BDNF)
It has been proven that the act of Intermittent Fasting helps improve
cognitive functioning in both mice and humans. It works by increasing
the amount of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). If you properly
learn how to intermittently fast, you will be increasing your BDNF –
which has been linked to improvements in both learning and memorization.
It is obvious that if you are able to improve your ability to learn as
well as your memory, you should experience an overall boost in
intelligence. Ironically, the process of intermittent-fasting is also
linked growing new brain cells.
Intermittent-fasting is nothing too complex. It involves eating for a
specific window of time, followed by a period of “fasting” or not
eating for a period of time. This can be done in windows of a specific
number of hours, or this may be conducted on an alternative-day (i.e.
every other day) basis. Not only could intermittent fasting give you a
boost in intelligence, it also seems to be physically healthy and is
hypothesized to help prevent against neurodegenerative diseases like
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
11. Reading
Reading is especially important if you want to boost the IQ of your
children. Some non-scientific studies have shown that reading can
increase a child’s IQ by up to 6 points. Generally I would take these
studies with a grain of salt since they are not published in any major
journals. However, the fact is that reading will stimulate thought,
learning new vocabulary, and helps people make connections between
certain events should be good for the brain.
Theoretically, reading material that is both stimulating and
challenging should be able to help improve a person’s IQ score. Whether
reading a lot of books or difficult material improves intelligence is
certainly up for debate. Some people think books and reading ability is
linked to IQ, while others disagree. Scientific studies need to be
conducted in readers vs. non readers to help determine IQ. I would guess
that individuals that read more had a higher level of intelligence, but
that’s just a guess.
How much can you increase your IQ?
Only you can determine whether you work towards boosting your IQ. If
you are already satisfied with your level of mental performance – that’s
great. However, if you are a person who is constantly trying to improve
in every aspect in order to get the most out of life, then you may want
to try some of the things on the list above and make a conscious effort
to increase your intelligence quotient.
The best way to do it would be to take an IQ test before practicing
these items on the list religiously for 90 days, and then take another
one after. Then compare the score of your IQ after you have been
training your brain and determine whether your intelligence has
increased.
Why I Think IQ is relatively static over a lifetime
I’m not going to fill people with false hope by preaching that they
can become a brilliant Einstein by practicing the items on the list. I
think that each person has potential to increase their IQ if they work
at it – the degree of increase depends on the person. Despite newer
research, I tend to think IQ is relatively static over time, especially
throughout adulthood. Sure IQ is going to increase from childhood
throughout teenage years and into adulthood, but it is going to reach a
peak. Eventually with aging and inevitable cognitive decline, it will
slightly decrease as the human body and brain reach their final years.
I would think that if you continuously stimulate your brain, you can
increase your IQ, but maintaining this increased level of intelligence
over the long term is probably unlikely. If your intelligence increases a
little bit, that’s a plus. Don’t get too down on yourself if you don’t
have a genius level IQ, rather focus on working with the skills that you
do have and using them to the best of your ability.