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Researchers have developed a technology that uses functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of resting brain activity to test human intelligence. The new system could eventually replace the traditional IQ test as a stronger indicator of mental power.
Ralph Adolphs, co-author of the study, is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). 19659002] "We found that if we just had people who lie in the scanner and do nothing while we measure the pattern of activity in their brains, we can use the data to predict their intelligence," says Adolphs . the data collected by the Human Connectome Project (HCP), which aims to better understand the many neural networks contained in the human brain. The team transferred brain scans and intelligence scores from nearly 900 individuals who participated in the HCP in their system.
Julien Dubois, researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center that the new algorithm was able to predict intelligence at statistically significant levels among HCP participants. Dubois also explained that the technology could be improved and that a lot of critical information from brain scans was not used by the system.
"The information we obtain from brain measurements can be used to explain 20 percent of the variance in intelligence that we have observed in our subjects," Dubois said. "We are doing very well, but we are still far from being able to match the results of hour-long intelligence tests, such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale."
Because the algorithm was driven predetermined intelligence scores, researchers developed a method of measuring intelligence across 10 different cognitive tasks performed by participants at the study to improve the accuracy of IQ test scores.
Coola author Paola Galdi was formerly a doctoral student. 19659003] University of Salerno and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Edinburgh
"If they are properly trained, these algorithms can answer questions as complex as the ones we are trying to answer here, they are very powerful, but if you ask, "How are they learning, how are they doing these things?" These are hard questions to answer, "said Galdi. [19659005]
The badysis was developed as part of ongoing research with the objective of building a diagnostic tool about the mind of a person in The team hopes to eventually use MRIs to identify conditions such as autism, schizophrenia and anxiety – just as they are currently used to recognize aneurysms or tumors
"The MRI operates ional has not yet delivered on its promise of a diagnostic tool. We, and many others, are actively working to change that, "said Dubois. "The availability of large datasets that can be extracted by scientists around the world makes this possible."
Research is available online at bioRxiv .
– [19659022] By Chrissy Sexton Earth.com Staff Writer
Subjects: Intelligence
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