Study uncovers food for thought

IT REALLY may be possible to enhance your IQ through your diet - or, more worryingly, lower it. New research has identified a possible link between levels of brain chemicals and intelligence test results.

Scientists in the US discovered two chemicals whose concentration is known to alter when people suffer brain injuries. When they examined healthy people, they found the levels of those chemicals agreed with much of their variations in IQ. Researcher William Brooks, a neuroscientist at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, told New Scientist magazine the results showed it might be possible to improve intelligencewith dietary supplements.

The two chemicals are N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and choline. NAA is found only in neurons, while choline is found in nerve cell membranes. Low levels of choline and high levels of NAA were associated with high IQ.