By IANS,
London : People who score high on intelligence tests are also good at being punctual, according to a new study.
A Swedish team that conducted the study believes that accuracy in timing is important to the brain processes involved in problem solving and reasoning.
The researchers have now established a correlation between general intelligence and the ability to tap out a simple regular rhythm.
They stressed that the study simply measured the capacity for rhythmic accuracy. Those who scored highest on intelligence tests also had least variation in the regular rhythm they tapped out in the experiment.
“It’s interesting as the task didn’t involve any kind of problem solving,” says Fredrik Ullén of Karolinska Institutet, who led the study with Guy Madison at Umeå University.
“Irregularity of timing probably arises at a more fundamental biological level owing to a kind of noise in brain activity.”
Results suggest the rhythmic accuracy in brain activity is observable when the person just maintains a steady beat which is also important to the problem-solving capacity that is measured with intelligence tests, said Ullen.
They also demonstrated a correlation between high intelligence, a good ability to keep time, and a high volume of white matter in the parts of the brain’s frontal lobes involved in problem solving, planning and managing time.