14 DAY TRIAL // In a recent study in the International Journal of Epidemiology, researchers propose a link between a person's smarts - of lack thereof - and their life expectancy.
Thus, specialist Rosalind Arden with the London School of Economics and Political Science and fellow researchers argue that, as a rule, smart people live longer than those who can't exactly be described as brainy.
It all comes down to genetics
If you're thinking smart people probably live longer because they make healthier choices when it comes to their lifestyle or maybe earn more money and so can afford medical care, you're perfectly right. These variables do have a say in the matter.
Be that as it may, it looks like there is more to this link between brain power and longevity. According to researcher Rosalind Arden and her colleagues, it all comes down to genetics.
In their report in the International Journal of Epidemiology, the team argues that the very genes that make people smart influence longevity in that they promote a fairly long life span.
The researchers reached this conclusion when, after looking at data concerning the IQ and the lifespan of identical and fraternal twins in the US, Sweden and Denmark, they found the smarter twin was usually the one who lived the longest.
This discrepancy turned out to be all the more obvious in the case of the fraternal twins included in the study, once again hinting that genetics influences both smarts and longevity.
“We found that the small relationship between intelligence and life span was almost all genetic,” said researcher Rosalind Arden in an interview, as cited by Live Science.
Furthermore, “If could be that people whose genes make them brighter also have genes for a healthy body. Or intelligence and lifespan may both be sensitive to overall mutations, with people with fewer genetic mutations being more intelligent and living longer."
That's not to say life expectancy is set in stone
It might be that the same genes that make some people smarter than average also boost life expectancy, but this does not mean that those whose brain power is not all that impressive are doomed to die young, the specialists behind this investigation argue.
Not when eating healthy and exercising regularly are a sure way to stay healthy and enjoy a long, happy life without even so much as thinking about IQ tests.