A new study has found that there is a correlation between pupil size and a person’s cognitive abilities.
In a report published by the magazine “ uninteresting Spanish ”, the writer Sarah Romero says that there are several factors that affect the dilation of the pupil of the eye, such as feelings of surprise and fascination, or taking some medications, or the nature of the lighting around us, but a recent scientific study showed that the size of the pupil It may help us determine the percentage of human intelligence. Read also Foods that keep the brain healthy This is what happens to your brain if you don’t get enough sleep The anti-aging program makes you 3 years younger in just 8 weeks We use 10% of it and music stimulates intelligence.. 5 myths about the brain that have been refuted by scientists
The study, conducted by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States, concluded that normal pupil size may be linked to “fluid intelligence”, which is the ability to solve problems and adapt to emergency situations without relying on previously acquired knowledge.
Pupil size and cognitive abilities
The study indicates that the size of the pupil is closely related to the difference in the degree of intelligence between one person and another. This means that the larger the pupil, the higher the IQ, which was found by the results of a number of tests of thinking, attention and memory.
In three separate experiments involving more than 500 participants, the researchers found that the participants with the highest scores on cognitive tests had significantly greater pupil size than those with the lowest scores.
The study author notes that “pupil dilation is used as an indicator of effort, a technique popularized in the 1960s and 1970s by psychologist Daniel Kahneman. When we discovered a relationship between normal pupil size and intelligence, we weren’t sure if the results were real, or what they meant.”
First, the researchers calculated the average pupil size of the participants between the ages of 18 and 35, using a tracking device with a camera attached to a computer. In general, the size of the pupil is narrow from 2 to 4 millimeters, and dilated at most to 8 millimeters.
Next, the participants had to take a series of cognitive tests to assess their ability to focus after deliberate attempts to distract themselves, think about new problems, and remember information they hadn’t previously experienced. The lab was darkened so that the pupils would not constrict in response to light.
To measure the diameter of the pupil, they used an ophthalmometer, an instrument that captures the reflection of light from the pupil and cornea using a high-resolution camera.
More research is needed
The results showed that those with larger pupils performed better on tests of attention, memory and thinking. This indicates a strong link between the brain and the eye, which the researchers hope to study more deeply in the future.
With age, pupils tend to get smaller and narrower, but regardless of the participants’ ages, the researchers found a clear relationship between pupil size and cognitive abilities.
However, the study authors say more research is needed to explore the dimensions of these findings and determine why the pupil is associated with fluid intelligence.