Researchers Find the Connection Between Theta Connectivity and Intelligence in a Brand New Study

If a human wants to become intelligent, they don't need to read books or understand theories; they just need to have good coordination in their head. That's what a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology claims. Researchers conducted a set of tests on some volunteers, which revealed that the stronger an individual's theta connectivity, the better their chances of being intelligent. Different regions start coordinating when the brain performs tasks that need more than normal cognitive skills. The syncing of these signals is called theta connectivity. Psychologist Anna-Lena Schubert of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany claims that people who displayed better proficiency in these cognitive skills had more synchronized signals in their brains compared to those with less proficiency, according to Science Alert.

Objective of the Study

Researchers recruited 148 people between the ages of 18 and 60 and made them solve three tests, focusing on their memory and intelligence. The study's objective was to figure out whether theta connectivity has any relation with cognitive control. Cognitive control refers to the ability of the human brain to adjust and adapt its thoughts, behavior, and emotions to different situations. Experts wanted to see whether the brain signals coordinated with each other when an individual faced different tasks requiring distinct skills. These signals are a series of slow waves in the band of 4 to 8 Hertz called theta signals.

Tests Given to Participants

Researchers gave each participant a non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) cap to record participants' brain activity. For the first task, they provided the participants with numbers from one to nine and asked whether they were below five or more than five. In the second one, the participants were given Navon figures and had to identify the big and small shapes in them. For the third one, researchers gave participants many pairs of numbers and letters, where they had to answer whether the alphabet was a vowel or a consonant, or if the number was more or less than five. Researchers wanted to observe the impact of changing rulesets in the brains of participants. 

Results of the Tests

Experts observed brain signals coordinating with each other every time they changed the tasks. It proved that theta connectivity was indeed linked to cognitive control. They also noted that the syncing was stronger in people who performed better in these intelligence and memory tests. "People with stronger midfrontal theta connectivity are often better at maintaining focus and tuning out distractions, be it that your phone buzzes while you're working or that you intend to read a book in a busy train station," Schubert added. "We did not expect the relationship to be this clear."

Researchers noted that the coordination wasn't as strong during cue recognition as it was during actual responses. The syncing was weaker when individuals were being instructed on different rules or were preparing for the next task with distinct requirements. They were strong when the individual was solving different problems. It implies that intelligence may not be dependent on things one does before the task, but on the ability to handle things on the spot. "These insights significantly advance theoretical models of intelligence, highlighting the critical role of specific aspects of cognitive control in cognitive abilities," the researchers wrote. Experts hope to utilize these findings to learn further about the relationship between brain signal coordination and cognition. They believe that these insights could also lead to new diagnostic techniques for ailments related to the brain.