IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v9y2018i1d10.1038_s41467-018-04268-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Diffusion markers of dendritic density and arborization in gray matter predict differences in intelligence

Author

Listed:
  • Erhan Genç

    (Ruhr University Bochum)

  • Christoph Fraenz

    (Ruhr University Bochum)

  • Caroline Schlüter

    (Ruhr University Bochum)

  • Patrick Friedrich

    (Ruhr University Bochum)

  • Rüdiger Hossiep

    (Ruhr University Bochum)

  • Manuel C. Voelkle

    (Humboldt University Berlin)

  • Josef M. Ling

    (The Mind Research Network/Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute)

  • Onur Güntürkün

    (Ruhr University Bochum
    Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University)

  • Rex E. Jung

    (University of New Mexico)

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with higher intelligence are more likely to have larger gray matter volume in brain areas predominantly located in parieto-frontal regions. These findings were usually interpreted to mean that individuals with more cortical brain volume possess more neurons and thus exhibit more computational capacity during reasoning. In addition, neuroimaging studies have shown that intelligent individuals, despite their larger brains, tend to exhibit lower rates of brain activity during reasoning. However, the microstructural architecture underlying both observations remains unclear. By combining advanced multi-shell diffusion tensor imaging with a culture-fair matrix-reasoning test, we found that higher intelligence in healthy individuals is related to lower values of dendritic density and arborization. These results suggest that the neuronal circuitry associated with higher intelligence is organized in a sparse and efficient manner, fostering more directed information processing and less cortical activity during reasoning.

Suggested Citation

  • Erhan Genç & Christoph Fraenz & Caroline Schlüter & Patrick Friedrich & Rüdiger Hossiep & Manuel C. Voelkle & Josef M. Ling & Onur Güntürkün & Rex E. Jung, 2018. "Diffusion markers of dendritic density and arborization in gray matter predict differences in intelligence," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04268-8
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04268-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04268-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-018-04268-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fraenz, Christoph & Schlüter, Caroline & Friedrich, Patrick & Jung, Rex E. & Güntürkün, Onur & Genç, Erhan, 2021. "Interindividual differences in matrix reasoning are linked to functional connectivity between brain regions nominated by Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    2. Hilger, Kirsten & Spinath, Frank M. & Troche, Stefan & Schubert, Anna-Lena, 2022. "The biological basis of intelligence: Benchmark findings," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Drakulich, Stefan & Sitartchouk, Arseni & Olafson, Emily & Sarhani, Reda & Thiffault, Anne-Charlotte & Chakravarty, Mallar & Evans, Alan C. & Karama, Sherif, 2022. "General cognitive ability and pericortical contrast," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Protzko, John & Colom, Roberto, 2021. "A new beginning of intelligence research. Designing the playground," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04268-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.