The Neuroscience of Intelligence

Cambridge Fundamentals of Neuroscience in Psychology

by Richard J. Haier

This book introduces new and provocative neuroscience research that advances our understanding of intelligence and the brain. Compelling evidence shows that genetics plays a more important role than environment as intelligence develops from childhood, and that intelligence test scores correspond strongly to specific features of the brain assessed with neuroimaging. In understandable language, Richard J. Haier explains cutting-edge techniques based on genetics, DNA, and imaging of brain connectivity and function. He dispels common misconceptions, such as the belief that IQ tests are biased or meaningless, and debunks simple interventions alleged to increase intelligence. Readers will learn about the real possibility of dramatically enhancing intelligence based on neuroscience findings and the positive implications this could have for education and social policy. The text also explores potential controversies surrounding neuro-poverty, neuro-socioeconomic status, and the morality of enhancing intelligence for everyone. Online resources, including additional visuals, animations, questions and links, reinforce the material.

Genres: Science, Psychology, Neuroscience, Nonfiction, Biology, Artificial Intelligence, Brain

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2015

Reviews

[Tiago F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very impressed by this book. Given that it's series by Cambridge and one of the leading scientists on intelligence, I had high hopes, but it managed to surpass it.

From the get-go what I loved the most was the fact that the author clearly admitted his bias towards biological explanations of intelligence. Everyone is biased, admitting and put forth your bias is infinitely better than trying to hide it or being unaware of it. Nevertheless, it gives his reasoning on why that's the case supported his 40 years of research.

The book is insanely well written, in almost every single point I can think of. It gives a succinct and necessary introduction, how intelligence research got started, its controversies and myths. Then moves on the impact of genetics, neuroimaging, intelligence manipulation, and ends with a nice reflection of the field in general. All of this written in an accessible manner, which anyone could read without a neuroscience background, which is very impressive.

I was pleasantly surprised how intellectually and scientifically honest Haier was. He was always careful to remind the limitations of the evidence and how no single study is conclusive. Typical problems of neuroscience, such as low sample sizes or lack of replication were often emphasized. He frequently pointed to null-results and contradictory evidence, which is so crucial yet not very common.

He's also quite humble on how he may be wrong and invites you to prove it. In the final chapter: "Speaking of you, reading also forces thinking. Even if you are convinced by my arguments, I challenge you to think critically about the studies I have present throughout this book as representative of neuroscience progress and about what I think they mean. My challenge to you is to find weak links and loopholes in my presentation, and when you do, design a new research study to fix or falsify them".

I wish it explored more on the role of the environment, brain plasticity and epigenetics. On the other hand, I felt sometimes he went in too much detail into neuroimaging techniques, adding little to his argument as a whole. But of course, it's just my opinion and a hard thing to balance.

A quick summary of the points in the book:
- Intelligence can be defined for scientific research, against popular belief. Although it's always relative among other people, and never a ratio scale.
- G-factor is a key and valid concept to estimate one's intelligence, and IQ is a good correlate of G.
- Evidence validates the predictive validity of IQ tests and its importance for academic and life success.
- The genetic role of intelligence has been known for decades, but early proponents of it like Cyril Burt and Jensen were attacked and rejected.
- Modern quantitative genetic studies overwhelmingly support a major role of genes for intelligence.
- While environment plays a role in intelligence during early childhood, this diminishes almost entirely by teenagehood.
- Compensatory education has failed to improve IQ in the long-term
- Intelligence is a by-product of many genes, each with a small effect.
- Advanced DNA technologies with molecular genetics are beginning to identify genes that play a role in intelligence and their neurobiological mechanisms.
- Intelligence isn't centred in any particular brain region, but rather seems to be expressed through networks.
- Higher intelligence seems to be the ability to progress information efficiently, as there is an inverse correlation between IQ scores and brain activity.
- Not all brains work the same way, and individual differences can't be ignored. Group averages taint the data.
- The Parieto-frontal Integration Theory of intelligence (PFIT) has emphasized the structural and functional characteristics of specific brain areas and their connections
- New neuroimaging methods are discovering structural and functional brain networks related to intelligence test scores. Many consistent with the PFIT.
- While there has been some progress, it's not yet possible to predict IQ scores based on brain measures.
- Individual differences between brain measures and intelligence have genes in common.
- There is no way of increasing intelligence that has survived independent replication with a reasonable weight of evidence. Most of the claims are full of methodological flaws.
- Psychoactive drugs and various non-drug methods like electrical stimulation show promise of enhancing cognition but no solid evidence so far.
- Chronometrics may be the measurement of intelligence of the future, by being able to assess intelligence on a ratio scale by tracking information processing in units of time.
- Memory is a key part of intelligence
- Brain fingerprints are stable and unique to individuals and can predict IQ.
- Given the role of neurobiology and genetics in cognitive ability, it's incorrect to blame lack of economic or educational success exclusively to poor motivation, education or other social factors.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

When an intellect - a member of the intelligentsia - studies "intelligence" he/she must be careful not to slip down a rabbit hole of narcissism. For in peering at the concept of intelligence, he/she must be weary that a glimmer of a paragon self peers back. The intelligentsia is in a sense a group of people seduced by the mythos of the genius. This nebulous character whose name is primarily used as a suffix- for those that who fundamentally succeeded in the trades of thought or human creativity .
They must, as they sometimes do, look for themselves in the glimmering water as they mumble the words "Am I a genius? "
And as such, whenever I read a book like this. one which sketches out such a nebulous concept - I bear in mind the waters are strange and grimy. The ego is desirous of being called a newton, an einstein, a Beethoven, a gauss or something similar of the kind.

So, now you must ask? What is this neurophysiological mechanism of the intellect.
Wait. What even is intelligence.
Neither him nor I have any idea for the first. Sorry to be a party pooper. And ill get to the second, albeit with reluctance.
------
So, we have established in this review that Haier - a man who is purportedly one of the experts on the subject (see start of book) - is unable to explain the neuroscience of intelligence. So what was the book about?
----
It is more akin to a book on just what intelligence is as a concept, (with a heavy reference on the following ideas
1. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/sho...
the idea that there is a think called "general intelligence". A constant which appears within any psychometric trying to classify intelligence. Iq is said to be HIGHLY correlative. Did someone say Bell curve? https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

2. It is a highly heritable trait which can NOT be altered by one of the classic things which is said to increase G by the popular press. (something highly interchanged in the text with iq). Here are some of those things:
a. baby einstein
b. classical medicine
c. nootropics
(those he does have an off hand comment about how crisper cas9 is promising, but then proceeded to say he knows pretty much nothing about it. So. ok)

3. There are a bunch of hypothetical neurological explanations but eh who knows. Maybe its in the grey matter he says at one point? It prob has to do with increased connectivity between a bunch of regions. (Yawn vague and generic)

Overall he ends how happy is he to be alive and that he is excited for the future 50 years of neurological literature.

So um. ok

This was a good run down on the concepts I mentioned here - assuming youre interested. But sadly, you will come hardly any closer to actually knowing what the neuroscience of intelligence even is.

If you're like me , you may walk away dissatisfied with the concept of G and hope for more coherent, more cogent, more sophisticated ideas on the woorkings of the mind. But for now, i guess my only choice is to return to the books.

Recommended for:
-those who liked the bell curve
- those interested in the concept of the intellect
- those who want to get smarter (he says you cant. Prob. I shrug )

[Harald G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sums up Haier's 40 years of psychology research into what intelligence actually is.
—"Crystallized intelligence refers to the ability to learn facts and absorb information based on knowledge and experience."
Is it important to study intelligence? (spoiler: IQ is one of the best predictor variable to success in life). To what degree is intelligence heritable? (spoiler: remarkably high heritability).
— "To recap this key piece of the genetic story, the heritability of general intelligence increases with age to about 80% by the end of teenage years and the effects of shared environment on intelligence decrease to near zero a bit earlier."
Can intelligence be trained (spoiler: no, people are stuck with the intelligence they are born with). —"Despite many claims, there is yet no way to increase any intelligence factor that survives independent replication and creates a compelling weight of evidence."

[Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book on intelligence for the following reasons. First, it was comprehensive and up-to-date. Second, Haier explained complex concepts in neuroscience and psychometrics in a way that few authors can do who write about intelligence. Third, Haier encourages the reader to be critical about the findings throughout the book, but also expresses excitement about the field.

[Victor Brouwers · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Poverty and near-poverty for them is a condition that may have some roots in the neurobiology of intelligence beyond anyone's control." Is the self-proclaimed most provocative sentence in The Neuroscience of Intelligence. The book provides a historical overview of neuroscience relating to intelligence in chronological order. As such, the readers is taken on a journey that is heavily influenced by the principles of scientific research (such as the weight of evidence and independent reproducibility of results, which are given practical meaning in this historical overview) and the advancement of sensing techniques (more detailed brain activity sensing methods lead to more detailed / focused research projects). The conclusion of this story is that, as of right now, it seems very likely that there is a rather substantial genetic argument which influences intelligence, possibly by leading to different neural mechanisms. This is both seen as an inconvenient truth and a potential route to decrease differences between social-economic groups as soon as these genetic influences are identified (and manipulated to increase intelligence).

Overall, the conclusion is that the body of research is confusing, since there is no compelling evidence that a specific (small) set of genes or neural pathways is responsible for intelligence. General ideas and hypotheses are outlined, but in line with the status of the scientific conclusion here (non-existent), this creates a messy overview of how complex the situation is.

A fascinating overview, heavily research-oriented and providing an interesting overview of the value of the scientific method. I would not recommend this book to people looking for a clear-cut answer, since it deliberately goes over the ambiguous state of the research. If you can look past that and are interested in intelligence and neuroscience, this is a wonderful read!

[Cody Sehl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what "star rating" to give this book because it is well written, easy to read, and provides ample reasoning for the conclusions the author states. On the other hand, as far as I can tell, the author shapes his reasoning to fit a particular conclusion.

Much of the criticism I have for this book is borne from “lateral reading” - which “helps you determine an author’s credibility, intent and biases by searching for articles on the same topic by other writers” (News Literacy Project). I encourage you to do your own investigating of this book’s sources, arguments, and conclusions.

The primary problem I see here is that the author implicitly endorses race-based differences in IQ and things in the realm of eugenics and does not do much to rebut them. He presents the existing evidence in favor of these conclusions, but does not present the existing evidence against them.

If you want the tl;dr, that’s in the last paragraph.


Let me break this down.

Bias:

The author opens the book with these statements in the preface:
“This book is not neutral, but I believe it is fair”
“Denial is a common response when new information conflicts with your prior beliefs”

Given those two statements, I really tried to have an open mind while reading. I kept finding something nagging me, though. Here’s an example:

“Finally, perhaps the major motivation for diminishing the validity of intelligence tests, and other tests of mental abilities including the SAT, is the desire, shared by many, to explain away group differences in average scores as a mere artifact of the tests. In my view, this motivation is misplaced. The causes of average test score differences among groups are not yet clear, but the differences are a major concern in education and other areas.”

Haier, here, is most likely referring to the controversy around the fact that different racial groups tend to score better or worse on IQ tests as a whole. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelli...)
If you read carefully, you can find Haier pointing to this controversy many times throughout the book, though this does seem to be the most direct rebuttal.

This is quite unsettling to me because this seems like the most important and controversial aspect of intelligence research. Why not address it head on? Or at least give a full throated condemnation of the nasty things it seems to imply (eugenics) _along_ with a statement that “we just don’t know yet why this data exists”?

Lateral reading of sources:

Richard J Haier:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard...
He was one of the signers of a document called “Mainstream Science on Intelligence” which defended the association between race and IQ in the book “The Bell Curve”

“Mainstream Science on Intelligence”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstr...
drafted by Linda Gottfredson
signed by 52 “experts in intelligence and allied fields”
Originally sent to 131 individuals. Of these, 52 signed the statement, 48 returned the request with an explicit refusal to sign, and 31 ignored the request.
According to a 1996 response by former American Psychological Association president Donald Campbell, only ten of those who signed were actual experts in intelligence measurement.

Linda Gottfredson:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_G...
Received funding from the Pioneer Fund, which is an organization that funds research to “advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences”. If you look this organization up, they’re all advocating for Nazi principals and eugenics.

“How much can we boost IQ and scholastic achievement?” (Arthur Jensen) [Ch 2.2, pp 43]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Muc...
Is apparently quite controversial and has lots of evidence weighing against it, all of which goes unmentioned in the book
There is lots of evidence against the conclusions the Arthur Jensen came to as a whole: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_...


Questions I have that don’t seem to have a satisfactory answer:

I assert that race is a social construct (evidence here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_(h...)
If intelligence is 100% genetic, as Haier argues, and given that race is a social construct and largely not genetic, shouldn’t there be little difference in IQ scores between races?

Closing thoughts

After looking up a lot of the sources, arguments, and conclusions in this book, I’ve found that there is considerable disagreement and controversy about all of them. Additionally, it appears that Haier resides in a camp filled with Nazis and eugenicists, though he does very little to acknowledge or rebut those positions. This book may seem reasonable, but only because it does not present the entirety of things. I believe I am following the “weight of evidence” as the author suggests, and I cannot recommend this book or its author.

[Robert Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intelligence research is controversial. Anyone who has followed the field knows it, and the author of this book certainly doesn't hide it. Instead, he acknowledges that the field is complicated but presents an overview of the current state of the research, pointing out where the evidence is conclusive, where it's questionable, and where it's non-existent. After decades of work, many questions remain, but the combination of psychometric, genetic, and brain imaging studies has shed considerable light on the structure of human intelligence. This book doesn't go into great detail on all of these subjects but provides a moderately-deep survey of the neuroscience research on the topic.

I've long complained that one of the biggest problems in scientific writing is that the "actual" scientific writing (peer-reviewed journal articles) has become so dependent on advanced training that even professional scientists from slightly different disciplines struggle to make heads or tails of its content (thus hampering interdisciplinary collaboration) while even intelligent lay audiences stand no chance at all (thus hampering public understanding of cutting-edge science). Meanwhile, much of the "popular" scientific writing is produced by journalists who either don't understand their subjects or dumb them down to the point of inaccuracy. This book seems to find a near-perfect compromise and I would dearly love to see much more work in its genre.

The ideal audience for this book seems to be the student of either psychology or neuroscience with an interest in intelligence research. The author makes no apologies for inclusion of a fair amount of semi-technical information, but also gently introduces the reader to many of these topics, making the work accessible to as broad an audience as is possible for such a work. By the time you finish reading, you'll come away with a bird's eye view of the current state of neuroscience research on intelligence, some interesting questions for future research, and a sense of the field's development through history.

Nothing as complicated as the human brain can be thoroughly examined in only 200-some pages, but the reader will gain a more-than-passable understanding for non-professionals and a well-documented road map to further reading for students or professionals in the field.

Not only is this a work of academic interest, it's also quite practical. Political discussions regarding education policy are ubiquitous and often, in the authors own words, rancorous. Though the author does make a couple of political observations (some of which I agree with and some of which I don't) in the final couple of pages, this book isn't a text on education policy. It does, however, provide the requisite scientific background necessary for a productive discussion of education policy. If we want to make people smarter, we need first to understand the biological reasons why some people are already smarter than others. It's an open question, but this book helps to point us in the right direction.

Highly recommended.

[Simon Ri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essentially you get a 300 pages long review paper about intelligence from a biological perspective. That might sound dure at first, but it’s not at all. Haier filled the book dense with information and made it quite accessible for laymen. Furthermore it’s basically the most solid finding in psychology viewed through a hard and materialistic lense, which is something everyone interested in psychology should be able to grapple with at least a bit. Haier sets you up with theoretical foundations of intelligence as a construct (i.e. factor analysis, which points to a general factor of intelligence overwhelmingly) to be able to lead you through the developments Neuroscience made in that field in the last 30 years.

[Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great book, but oriented to students. At some points is entertaining, but a lot of times feels like an enumeration of studies. At the beginning you get plenty of definitions and a history of relevant papers/studies, but later it gets tough to read. Sadly, there's few certainties in the field (eg: IQ is highly genetic, it can't be increased environmentally) and low budgets. The interesting questions feel out of reach, in the black box that is brain and genetics. I didn't care much about the rebutting of studies like the Mozart effect, but they are there, if someone is interested. I wish society discussed IQ more openly.

[Mathijs Aasman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview of the field. Was very careful to not advocate anything with tenuous scientific backing, which is why he offers no tips on how to boost one's IQ. I myself personally am interested in the basis of intelligence at the level of the protein. We know that certain alleles are correlated with intelligence, and n=1E6 genome wide association studies (GWAS) are coming out (See upcoming study in Nature Genetics: "Gene discovery and polygenic prediction from a 1.1-million-person GWAS of educational attainment"). Understanding how these allele differences translate into differences in the function of individual proteins (whether in gene expression ie amount of protein relative to others or in structural and therefore functional changes in the proteins themselves). There have been several alleles found so far which are correlated with intelligence, and this is made more plausible by the fact that their genes are expressed in the brain, and their descriptions make it sound like something that would affect neural processing.

This is still a nascent field and I am excited for the future. The physical nature of intelligence, consciousness and creativity are among, if not the biggest questions in science.

[Alex Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic and easily accessible book about the history and all the latest neuroscientific advancements in the study of intelligence. Written by one of the preeminent researchers in intelligence, this book can be read and appreciated by both the lay person and experts in the field. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a thorough primer on the field of intelligence research.

[Erno Berezvay · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a comprehensive and critical view on the current state of intelligence research. If you are a psychology student, it is highly recommended!
Haier’s work officially became one of my favorite book. Put your preconceived ideas on the side and just focus on what he writes; you will be amazed of the clearness and honesty what radiates from this book.
5 star for a book worth 6 stars!

[Joel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This book argues that intelligence is strongly rooted in neurobiology. To the extent that intelligence is a major contributing factor for managing daily life and increasing the probability of life success, neuro-poverty is a concept to consider when thinking about how to ameliorate the serious problems associated with tangible cognitive limitations that characterize many individuals through no fault of their own. "

" It is time to bring "intelligence back from a 45-year exile and into reasonable discussions about education and social policies without acrimony. "

[Daniel]

知性について本です。面白いと思う、読みやすい。ですけど知性のトピックはちょっと怖いと思う。例えば、知性は遺伝や環境の影響を受けるかどうか。著者はこのトピックについて、明確な意見を持っているようです。

[Graham Seibert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Measurements of the brain corroborate IQ tests and genomics.

Intelligence research traditionally focused on intelligence testing. It was one of the two fields on which the science of statistics was founded. Statistics analyzes correlations among variables. What Charles Spearman found 100 years ago was that children who did well on tests of mathematical ability tended to do well on English, French, even musical ability. He posited that there was an underlying intelligence factor. He called it g, the general factor of intelligence, which related all measures of school ability.

Haier relates that history and agrees with it. However, this traditional psychometric approach ran into two difficulties about 50 years ago. First difficulty was that by 50 years ago they are had invented most of the optimal ways to operationalize the measurement of intelligence to put on pencil and paper tests . The second difficulty was that political liberals, for reasons of conscience having nothing to do with science, dismissed the whole thing. The whole field of intelligence research fell into bad odor. People would deny the reality of intelligence, claiming that the tests were biased, even that there was no such thing as intelligence – it was a meaningless idea.

Haier describes the science subsequent to traditional psychometrics, following it in two directions. The first is genomics. Scientists have long known that intelligence was 80% heritable. That in itself should have been a refutation of the deniers, but they refused to accept the evidence. Genomic researchers are finding more and more specific alleles, genes, that seem to be related to intelligence. The frustrating thing is that there are thousands of them, and no individual gene seems to account for as even a significant fraction of 1% of intelligence. Nonetheless, that from that genomic side, they have pretty good theories as to how and how intelligence is passed on from parent to child.

The other area of research, Haier's, has to do with measuring what's going on in the brain. The tools to measure activity in the brain have become increasingly sophisticated over the past 30 years. The first one, pet scans, or proton emission tomography, required injecting radioactive substance into the brain. There, the radioactive substance with could then be what then are generate gamma rays that could be captured on a x-ray film in which show more or less where the harm injected material was traveling around in the brain. But primitive, but better than nothing. Next came MRIs, static MRIs, they gave a pretty good picture of the brain. He could get a good image of where that dark and the light matter was, and their theories as to how intelligence is related to that white matter in the gray matter. Next came functional MRIs, a big step forward, in which researchers were able not just to take a static picture of a brain, but to watch as the brain lit up in a pattern as people as subjects undertook the tasks they were given. So you could ask research subjects to do demanding or not demanding our mental exercises and watch what parts of the brain lit up as they did them. This has progressed further with increasingly sophisticated techniques such as the magneto-encephalogram (MEG), able to access regions of neuron activity dynamically every millisecond during the performance of a cognitive task.

Brain imaging has revealed some interesting differences among people. When given a cognitive problem, people with high measured intelligence show brain activity in different parts of the brain than average people. When men and women of equal measured ability are given the same cognitive problem, the two sexes seem to use different parts of their brains to solve them.

So that's the overall story. People want to deny the reality of intelligence are now faced with the task of denying the reality of physical of the imaging of brains, I should mention. Also, the reaction time tests that have been being done for a century or more, and they are faced with the reality of it. Denying the genomics that suggest how intelligence is is compiled. In other words, they have to be. They have to be willfully blind in order not to see that intelligence is highly heritable.

With regard to the argument as to whether intelligence is relevant, intelligence has always been highly correlated with measures of real-world success – academic achievement, workplace achievement, and income just to name three. These are so obvious that as to be undeniable unless you're a real zealot and work very hard not to believe it.

Haier expresses the concept that I have long known intuitively but didn't have words for. Intelligence is not measured on a ratio scale. That's important. Our weight and height are measured on a ratio scale. As to say that there something can weigh 0 pounds or can be a 0 inches tall. There is no zero on the intelligence scale. Intelligence measures relative performance among people. The standard is an IQ of 100, the average for a population. That average does not stay still. It is not average is not constant across time, and is certainly not constant across populations. It's a moving target. One of the things that Haier hopes to do is to establish a ratio scale for measuring intelligence.

I'll note that that offers that is not a total solution, although it will be a big plus. Haier measured it in a question of brain speed. They can measure that. So he can say that the clock speed of the brain help fast is a subject able to answer questions.

However, a lot of intelligence testing is a matter of can you solve the problem or not. Typical examples would be: can you multiply the given to two digit numbers together in your head and come up with the right answer? Some people can, some people simply cannot. Ever. The same goes for verbal intelligence. If a test asks, "what's the relationship between a regatta and a fleet?" or "What's the relationship between a regatta and a peloton?" some people who will never be able to answer the question. They simply don't know the words, or if they know them. They simply can't make the facilities syllogisms. So a lot of intelligence is not ratio scale. It is binary. Can they answer the question or not?

An intelligence test measures how many questions a subject is able to answer, but still not on a ratio scale. There is no assurance that the questions are commensurate, that they do the same thing. Psychometricians try very hard to make test items commensurate, to ensure that they measure the same thing, but each question is really a separate entity. It will never be possible to say that Dick is 50% smarter than John. Or 150. In fact, in areas where it might be measured, there will be some metrics by which somebody may be a thousand times smarter than somebody else. John Van Neumann would be a thousand times better than me at the multiplying together five digit numbers in his head. I might achieve one pair of numbers after many hours of laborious work. He could do an instant. The ratio scale doesn't make sense for this. It's binary. He could do it. I can't. It is absolutely certain that brain scans would show totally different areas of his brain being active working the problem that would be for my brain.

As a companion to Haier's book, I recommend Richard Plomin's recent book "Blueprint." Plomin has been investigating the connection between genomics and intelligence, with little reference to measurement systems. The two books together provide a good understanding of the state-of-the-art in intelligence research.

[michael prado · Rating 2 out of 5]

My primary impression (cited from book): “Actual brain mechanisms that influence or control brain structures and functions related to intelligence are not understood to any significant degree.”

A dearth of substantive neuroscientifc theory unfortunately makes the book's title largely misleading.

The main focus of the book is on research methods with some interesting discussion on epigenetics, brain imaging, PFIT, and neural efficiency theory included therein.

The rest of the book is a survey of unabashed social-scientific/psychometric “general intelligence”-research proponents, whose claims for scientific GI validity rely heavily on sampling and statistical tests.

The literary push is always just to increase sample size, standardize application of g-correlate findings, cross-rep., etc., at the expense of any substantive analysis of how intelligence works in individual cases.

The former research methods, which are featured ad nauseam, come off as superficial attempts to gather raw data to make unsubstantiated statistical variables seem more robust.

It’s true that the consideration of intelligence in individual cases is less “pretty” by today’s research standards, and doesn’t lend itself easily to generalizations, policy debates and other statistical correlations; yet, until we can certainly ID and understand the cognitive/neural mechanisms of intelligence in one individual, inferences about GI across larger population groups are unsubstantiated and misleading at worst.

[Alessandro Perilli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Neuroscience of Intelligence is a book-long history lesson on the last 40 years of research on intelligence. If you are a student considering the field, or if you are just passionate about the topic, it's a must-read. For everybody else, Chapter 2-4 might be a bit boring but it would help debunk a lot of myths about the human brain: what tricks really help increasing intelligence (hint: none, at least none scientifically proved), what drugs can boost intelligence (hint: none, at least none yet), where creativity might reside (hint: it's not just the right hemisphere), etc.

That said, the hypothesis described at page 197 (UK edition) is worth the whole book. Look up for "neuro-poverty".

[Sebastian Langan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very solid read that focused in on some of the most crucial genetic and neuroimaging studies investigating the roots of intelligence. Haier spends a great deal of time summarizing the PFIT (parietofrontal) model of intelligence, referring back to the model in later passages whenever more recent research builds off it. I believe the most crucial part of the book was his discussion of some of the public policy implications found at the intersection of neurobiology and human development: What should public policy have to do with those with an IQ making it incredibly difficult to participate in most professions? What can we do to modify the educational system to more realistically and beneficially approach the normal distribution of IQ scores?

[Vincent Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good and very short summary of the state of Intelligence research.

I think a summary of chapter 1 should be mandatory reading for everyone, as it clearly explains g (general intelligence), its relationship to all testing methods, and why it matters and is useful.

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be required reading for anyone who still think our personalities are shaped mostly by our culture.

[An Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard J. Haier’s *The Neuroscience of Intelligence* provides a fascinating deep dive into what modern neuroscience tells us about human intelligence. Unlike speculative or philosophical takes on intelligence, Haier focuses on empirical research, particularly brain imaging studies, to explore how intelligence is structured, measured, and developed.

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### **Key Takeaways**

✔️ **Intelligence Is Measurable:** Haier defends the validity of IQ tests, showing strong correlations between brain activity and cognitive ability. Intelligence is not just an abstract concept but a biological trait with real-world implications.

✔️ **Brain Structure and Function Matter:** Neuroimaging studies reveal that intelligence is associated with specific brain regions, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes. The "P-FIT" (Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory) is presented as the leading model for how intelligence works in the brain.

✔️ **Genetics vs. Environment:** While intelligence has a strong genetic basis, Haier acknowledges the role of environment and education. However, he challenges the idea that interventions like brain training significantly boost intelligence.

✔️ **The Limits of "Brain Training":** Contrary to popular belief, most commercial brain-training programs don’t significantly improve general intelligence. Instead, improvements tend to be task-specific and do not transfer broadly.

✔️ **Future of Intelligence Research:** Advances in neuroscience, including neuroplasticity and genetic studies, may lead to breakthroughs in enhancing intelligence. However, ethical concerns about cognitive enhancement are also explored.

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### **Who Should Read It?**
- **Anyone interested in intelligence research** from a scientific perspective.
- **Students of psychology, neuroscience, or cognitive science.**
- **Skeptics of IQ tests** who want a well-researched argument on their validity.
- **Those curious about brain imaging and intelligence genetics.**

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### **Final Thoughts**
Haier presents a compelling, research-driven case for understanding intelligence through neuroscience. While some sections can be technical, the book remains accessible for readers with a basic understanding of psychology and neuroscience. If you’re looking for a serious, science-backed discussion on intelligence, this is one of the best books available on the topic.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it is an excellent book. Very thorough and clear, and for a subject as complex as this one, I think it is told in a fairly engaging way (as much as that is possible). At times, it may still feel somewhat tedious, but I don’t think there is any other way to explain some of the complex mechanisms that operate in the brain. The author is firm and clear in his conclusions, with no hedging. I find it very valuable that toward the end of the book, he also makes his political position clear (not in terms of left or right/liberal or conservative, but in terms of what he believes are the implications of all this knowledge for what should be done in society). That last chapter moved me from a 4 to a 5, by clarifying several points.

As for the conclusions and possible criticisms, I am still processing all the information. I would like him to go a bit deeper into how context could potentially change—whether through epigenetics or some other mechanism, if one exists—the structure of the brain. In particular, how these contextual factors, for example, education, affect the probabilities implied by genetic conditioning. Haier often argues that the g-factor is relatively unchangeable through various initiatives, but at the same time, he maintains that education is beneficial in other ways. Why? How? I would like to hear these arguments from a neuroscientist, even if that goes somewhat beyond the scope of the book. I haven’t yet looked into what other authoritative scientific sources on the subject have to say, or whether there have been any updates since the book was written. I may add something more to this review once I do.

[Tom Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was quite fascinating but in the end was shocked at how little we understand about HOW the brain thinks.
The last chapter made it worth it though. A study done by the authors noticed that genius comes when you have overdeveloped intelligence and underdeveloped inhibition.

Next steps for research:
Bridging Human and Machine Intelligence Circuit by Circuit
"The core idea is that the cerebral cortex works fundamentally as a hierarchical system for storing and applying memory, especially memory of sequences, to make predictions about the world, and that this system is the essence of intelligence. One key insight is that the elements of this system are integrated by a single, all-purpose cortical learning algorithm (CLA)."

This is a great book for specialists but it's likely to frustrate the average reader.

I do not recommend you go out and get this book. It's too specific and since there is no grand revelation, it's a disappointment. The very best of current neuroscience knows what parts of the brain are being lit up when certain things are thought, but they still do not understand HOW we think. Also, any time in the media or from a tech company you hear the word AI (for Artificial Intelligence), understand that it is complete and total bullshit. Nobody understands how thought works so nobody is even close to figuring it out.

[Rick Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came to this work, wanting to know answers about, "Intelligence"

This work is based on genetic, and neuro-imaging methods.

Well -- no idea, how to incorporate them into mathematical formalism?

Because, that's how we build, or say replicate, actualize into real world.

I find, reductionism incomplete, meaning, we are not able to get a full picture.

I find this definition, succinct,

Intelligence, capacity for:

a) abstraction,
b) logic,
c) understanding,
e) self-awareness,
f) learning,
g) emotional knowledge,
h) reasoning,
i) planning,
j) creativity,
k) critical thinking, and
l) problem-solving


Consider looking at this,

A definition of intelligence for the real world by F Chollet


Deus Vult,
Gottfried

[Damian · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent textbook on the neuroscience of intelligence. I find it to be accessible, comprehensive, and entertaining. Haier does a superb job on explaining the concepts of the g-factor and intelligence to the audience. He also debunks many misconceptions and myths surrounding intelligence and IQ throughout the book. Nevertheless, one impression I got from reading the book is that much work remains to be done before anything conclusive can be drawn from the neuroscientific study of intelligence. There are simply too many contradictory studies in the field at the moment, so nothing definitive can be determined from the findings yet.

[Jerrid Kruse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I don’t fully agree with the author’s admitted bias toward a biological explanation for intelligence, to think there is no genetic component seems unreasonable. The author summarizes many studies and aspects of neuroscience and intelligence research and provides some interesting speculations about the future. The author is very aware of the implications of his ideas and recognizes their limits. Although he is likely characterized as a conservative in his science, his science has led him to progressive politics (but these issues were not the main portion of the book, but the parts I tended to think about more).

[Elliot Mackinnon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fairly technical, but a pretty awesome run-through of the state of neuroscience research on intelligence. Haier is a measured, "follow the data" kind of researcher. His tone invokes measured optimism despite the difficulties of neuroscientific research, which has (at least for now) made finding conclusive experimental data a particularly thorny challenge.

I came away with a few shattered pre-conceived notions. I recalibrated my dispositions on social policy goals and realistic outcomes. I would imagine that, no matter where you are on the political spectrum, it might push other readers to do so.

[Eimantas Gladkauskas · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book with the cutting edge technologies and research in neuroscience of intelligence. Very well written and easy to read. I got really surprised by some facts and also got very interesting ideas while reading the book. As a person with an interest in human psychology I can say that it was an interesting experience to look at how our brain funcionts from another perspective. Now I'm questioning myself, did my intelligence increase after reading this book?? 🙄😉 Jokes aside, I recommend this book for students and for people with an interest in neuroscience and human intelligence.

[Michal Malatinský · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard J. Haier je americký psychológ, ktorý sa dlhodobo venuje neurovednému výskumu ľudskej inteligencie. V súčasnosti pôsobí ako emeritný profesor na Kalifornskej univerzite v Irvine a tiež ako šéfredaktor popredného akademického časopisu Intelligence. V roku 2017 mu vo vydavateľstve University of Cambridge vyšla kniha The Neuroscience of Intelligence (Neuroveda inteligencie), ktorá prístupným spôsobom informuje o tejto výskumnej oblasti a jej výzvach.

Zvyšok mojej recenzie tu: https://ippr.sk/recenzie/221-richard-...

[Zelma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short but dense book that gives an insight into how intelligence research has been progressing. The major ideas are well explained accompanied by some looking into specifics.
It was personally a good refresher and sorted some ideas in my mind.
I’d say it is non-psychology-neuroscience (or related) reader friendly.