Intelligence

Where is intelligence located in the brain?

April 11, 2012

Locations of general intelligence and executive function: red: common areas, orange: general intelligence, yellow: executive function (credit: Aron Barbey)

University of Illinois scientists have mappedthe physical architecture of intelligence in the brain in one of the largest and most comprehensive analyses so far of the brain structures vital to general intelligence and to specific aspects of intellectual functioning, such as verbal comprehension and working memory.

“We found that general intelligence depends on a remarkably circumscribed neural system,” said Neuroscience professor Aron Barbey of the Decision Neuroscience Laboratory, who led the study. “Several brain regions, and the connections between them, were most important for general intelligence./.../