The evolution of intelligence

“Intelligence” is a shape-shifter, difficult to pin down. One of the most lauded brain boxes of recent times, Albert Einstein, said, “It’s not that I’m so smart it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” He also believed that “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. However you define it though, intelligence is a spark that we can all identify and it is what separates a human from the rock on which she walks. So when did intelligence breathe its first in life? This might seem a mere question for speculation but now researchers believe they have come closer to knowing how intelligence first raised its evolutionary head.

The researchers from the University of Edinburgh gave both mice and humans a series of tests aimed at evaluating mental abilities. They then combined the results of these tests with analysis of their genetic code. What they found was that higher mental function in both humans and mice was controlled by the same genes.

In theory what this means is that somewhere in the primordial soup half a billion years ago an invertebrate creature experienced a genetic freak accident that resulted in extra copies of these genes being made, which resulted them in persisting and succeeding. The rest is the history of life.

The interesting thing is that the same genes that are responsible for intelligence are also responsible for a number of brain disorders. Intelligence it seems has come at an evolutionary price.

Genes of course are not everything; whether a gene is expressed is the real thing. If you have watched Geordie Shore or other “reality” soft-scripted programs of its ilk, you will be aware that these intelligence genes must be shy and retiring creatures because in some people they obviously can’t muster the courage to express themselves.