Interesting facts about your brain and intelligence

• Your brain has about 100 billion neurons. A typical brain cell has from 1,000 to 10,000 connections to other brain cells.
• Studies have shown that children who are breast fed display IQ's up to 10 points higher by the age of three.
• Your brain is full of nerve cells, but it has no pain receptors. Doctors can operate on your brain while you're awake and you won't feel a thing.
• The right side of your brain controls the left side of your body, and the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body.
• Your brain weight accounts for about 2 percent of your body weight. But your brain uses 20 percent of your body's oxygen supply and 20 to 30 percent of your body's energy.
• When you are born, your brain weighs about a pound. But by age 6, it weighs three pounds. What happens? Learning to stand, talk, and walk creates a web of connections in your head—two pounds worth!
• People with lower IQ are at greater risk of being concussed. A Danish study looked at 520 men who had sustained concussion after having their IQs tested by the national draft board. 30.4 percent of the concussed men had had dysfunctional scores. Experts decided lower IQ is a risk factor.
• An analysis of 1 million students in a New York school district showed that school cafeteria food affected IQ scores to an astonishing degree. When preservatives, coloring, dyes and artificial flavors were removed from the cafeteria menu researchers found that 70,000 students performed two or more IQ grade levels higher than before.
• Even though there are huge differences in weekly earnings between people of various educations levels there are also great discrepancies between people with comparable schooling and higher intellectual capabilities.
• Social class is just one of many factors, both environmental and genetic, that may impact on a child's IQ. Others can include: diet, birth weight, parental IQ and even if the child gets hugged a lot!
• IQ tests can’t measure all forms of intelligence. It’s widely agreed that standardized tests can’t measure all forms of intelligence including creativity, wisdom, practical sense and social sensitivity.
• Some researchers say that IQ - a predictor of income - is partly inherited. Researchers compared the incomes of fathers and sons and found if you were in the bottom five percent of society you had a one in 20 chance or less of getting to the top.
• IQ is not influenced by family size or birth order. There is some confusion on this matter due to the fact that smart families usually have few children. However there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that you will have a low IQ if you belong to a large family. There is also no evidence that the first born child will be more intelligent than the rest.
• In the USSR even mentioning IQ was a punishable act.
• Someone considered a good mind-reader is actually smart. This was found in an Estonian study. Even if you accept a skeptic's argument — that "mind readers" are simply those bright enough to pick up on body language and behavior — they still have to be bright to do this!
• Feeling rejected has an effect on your IQ score. Ohio researchers claim IQ can plummet by 25 percent after being rejected. It's harder to think straight after rejection.
• Certain smells may improve your ability to pass exams. British research indicates students revising for exams could use scent to improve their marks, but also that smells associated with failure can worsen results. The smell of rosemary is also said to enhance mental performance.
• In 1984 the political scientist James Flynn reported that Americans had gained about 13.8 IQ points in 46 years. If people taking an IQ test today were scored in the same way as people 50 years ago then 90% of them would be classified in the genius level.
• A message for action travels from your brain to your muscles as fast as 250 miles per hour.
• Studies show that IQ is modestly related to the speed at which you do some pretty simple things such as comparing two lines to see which is longer.
• Wine drinkers on average have a higher IQ than beer drinkers. Studies show a slight advantage to wine drinkers — but do wine drinkers have higher IQs because they drink wine or vice-versa ? It may be that some people with high IQ reach a high social status and then choose to drink wine to fit in.
• Modern neuro-imaging techniques show that to some degree brain size is correlated to IQ.
• IQ has been shown to increase with more schooling, better educated parents and better toys.
• A higher IQ employee will be more productive than a lower IQ employee even after years on the same job