IQ Can Be Increased

There are many who believe that one's IQ can't be increased. Some psychologists and scientists even help perpetuate this lie, claiming that a person's IQ, or intelligence quotient, is determined by birth, or at least fixed in early childhood. They claim that you cannot increase your intelligence later in life. Is this true? Not at all.

How about the myth that the number of neurons in the brain is set by early childhood, and thereafter can only decline throughout life. True or false? Absolutely false.

First of all, lets look at the idea that you can't get smarter. Does it even make any sense when we consider our experience? Aren't there new tricks we learn that make us able to use our brains more effectively? If we train ourselves to use these tricks and techniques, we are functionally more intelligent.

Some say that we may think and act in better ways, but that the essential power of our brain has not changed. That is a game of semantics. More powerful is more powerful. If you learn how to gear a car engine more efficiently, and make the car able to climb hills better and go faster, can you really argue that it is not more powerful, just because it has the same engine?

I raised my own IQ score by at least 20 points after learning and applying certain techniques. Perhaps all I did was learn more effective ways to take an IQ test. On the other hand, even that could be considered a sign of increasing intelligence.

In any case their arguments fall apart when we consider the latest research into the brain. Contrary to what most scientists used to believe - and many laymen still believe - the number of neurons in the brain is not set by early childhood. The brain continues to produce new neurons throughout our lives. That is what the science now shows.

There is even better news. It produces new neurons in response to stimulation (mental exercise). This phenomenon is referred to as brain plasticity or neuro-plasticity. The brain gets stronger with exercise, just like the muscles.