Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Cerebellum, Reading, and IQ

new research suggests that there is a relationship between high IQ and the cerebellum. I have already noted the connection between the cerebellum and irregular timing, suggesting that it may respond to prose rhythms.

Which raises an interesting question: could the mere fact of reading prose, any prose, increase general intelligence? Specific prose -- on economics, biology, or philosophy, for example -- of course informs one about such things, and thus increases topic-specific intelligence. Reading across the genres allows one to see patterns and make connections, of course, and thus might also raise general intelligence to a certain degree. But may it also be that reading prose about anything at all could raise one's intelligence by its interactions in the cerebellum? This seems a potentially fruitful avenue of scientific research. One can see if there is such a positive correlation. Also, one can research how the cerebellum reacts in response to reading prose.

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