IQ Is Related To Development of Prefrontal Cortex

This is the kind of news that gets me all excited! Using neuroimaging, researchers were able to observe that the development of the cortex (the outer layer of the cortex, and the seat of a lot of important cognitive functions) appeared to differ in its rate of maturation in children with different IQs. Very smart children have a comparatively thinner cortex around the age 7 but it peaks later in terms of thickness (aka number of neurons). It peaks at age 11 or 12 whereas brains in children of average intelligence peaks around age 8 in terms of thickness. It's as if the brain of children of superior intelligence is more efficient in its construction, and in determining what is necessary or not and pruning itself down. Fascinating. The brain is one fascinating organ. :)