ERIC Number: EJ830322
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0160-2896
EISSN: N/A
Gray Matter and Intelligence Factors: Is There a Neuro-g?
Haier, Richard J.; Colom, Roberto; Schroeder, David H.; Condon, Christopher A.; Tang, Cheuk; Eaves, Emily; Head, Kevin
Intelligence, v37 n2 p136-144 Mar-Apr 2009
Heterogeneous results among neuro-imaging studies using psychometric intelligence measures may result from the variety of tests used. The g-factor may provide a common metric across studies. Here we derived a g-factor from a battery of eight cognitive tests completed by 6929 young adults, 40 of whom also completed structural MRI scans. Regional gray matter (GM) was determined using voxel-based-morphometry (VBM) and correlated to g-scores. Results showed correlations distributed throughout the brain, but there was limited overlap with brain areas identified in a similar study that used a different battery of tests to derive g-scores. Comparable spatial scores (with g variance removed) also were derived from both batteries, and there was considerable overlap in brain areas where GM was correlated to the respective spatial scores. The results indicate that g-scores derived from different test batteries do not necessarily have equivalent neuro-anatomical substrates, suggesting that identifying a "neuro-g" will be difficult. The neuro-anatomical substrate of a spatial factor, however, appears more consistent and implicates a distributed network of brain areas that may be involved with spatial ability. Future imaging studies directed at identifying the neural basis of intelligence may benefit from using a psychometric test battery chosen with specific criteria. (Contains 3 figures and 6 tables.)
Descriptors: Intelligence, Cognitive Tests, Young Adults, Brain, Spatial Ability, Psychometrics, Diagnostic Tests, Correlation, Scores, Neurological Organization
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A