What are the neural fundaments of intelligence? According to a prominent theory, a tight interaction between some frontal and parietal areas (as shown in the picture below) could constitute these fundaments. Scientists from Bochum, Dortmund, Minneapolis, Mannheim, Edinburgh, and Minneapolis now tested a core assumption of this theory, namely that more efficient axonal pathways between these areas should go along with higher intelligence. In a multicenter approach with over 2000 healthy participants, they indeed could show that high intelligence correlates with efficiency of three critical pathways that connect these areas and their frontal interhemispheric link.

Stammen, C., Fraenz, C., Grazioplene, R.G., Schlüter, C., Merhof, V., Johnson, W., Güntürkün, O., DeYoung, C.G., Genç, E., Robust associations between white matter microstructure and general intelligence, Cerebral Cortex, 2023, 33: 6723-6741.