Teen IQ's Fluctuate

The brain experiences more change in adolescence than any other time in life other than before birth and infancy. These changes can cause a significant fluctuation in a teenagers IQ over time. A study at University College London found that 21% of teens tested had as much as a 20 point increase in their IQ after three to for years. In teens whose verbal IQ changed, researchers found that there were changes in the cortex related to speech in the brain. Changes in non-verbal IQ, were connected with parts of the cerebellum. The cerebellum is involved in controlling learned finger movements, which would relate to the non-verbal parts of the test such as the visual and spatial skills. Although most scientists feel that IQ is determined early in life this new research suggests that changes can occur throughout teenage years. It is interesting that through imaging of the brains, they are able to determine the changes in the brain structure, that may lead to the increase or decrease of certain skills. The regions of the brain in the scans that changed over time correlated to the different skills that had improved or worsened. The number of teens whose IQ increased or decreased was about equal, some performers went from a high score to even higher and some one from low to even worse. To some degree the researchers found that the brain change measurements matched the IQ change. Since we have just studied the different regions of the brain and what each region does, it is interesting to see that it may be linked to development of intelligence in teenagers.

Image of brain website: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/physician-resources/patient-education-materials/atlas-of-human-body/brain-effects-stroke.page

Article Website: http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/21/teens-iq-may-rise-or-fall-over-time/