Psychologists have found that men with the highest IQ also have the healthiest sperm. The findings could explain why some of the world’s most intelligent men have so many female admirers no matter their physical attractiveness.
They also suggest that being smart and funny might have developed as a signal to women looking for a mate with healthy genes.
The research, by the evolutionary psychologist Professor Geoffrey Miller of the University of New Mexico, centred around a study of 400 Vietnam War veterans who were put through extensive mental tests and were also asked to provide sperm samples.
According to the test results, it was found that men who scored high on a battery of intelligence tests boasted high counts of healthy sperm.
Whereas, low scorers tended to have fewer and more sickly sperm.
Professor Miller, who is speaking at a conference of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour at Oxford University, believes that sperm quality was directly related to brain quality.
The two traits could have evolved together as a way to advertise good genes, he said.
He believes a number of human traits – including language, intelligence, humour and selflessness – may have evolved because they are attractive to the opposite sex.
Describing his theory, Professor Miller, said: “Traits such as language, humour, and intelligence evolved in both sexes, because they were sexually attractive to both sexes.”
Meanwhile in a related talk, Dr Freya Harrison, of the University of Bath, will outline findings at the conference from experiments which showed that men reported to indulge in selfless behaviours were found more attractive to women as both potential long-term partners and, to a lesser extent, for “flings”.
“Selflessness makes men of otherwise low to moderate attractiveness sexier, but not men who were already considered very attractive,” she said.
Smart rats
Smart fish
Smart mice
Smart flies?
Smart foods
Smart parrots
Smart pigeons
Fish On Prozac
Neuroenhancers?
Intellectual eating
Cosmetic neurology?
Neurotechnology 2008
Growing new brain cells
How numerate are fish?
Scepticism about smart drugs
Are some mice more intelligent than others?
Men lose their minds speaking to pretty women
Refs
HOME
HedWeb
Future Opioids
BLTC Research
The Good Drug Guide
Paradise-Engineering
Utopian Pharmacology
SMART DRUGS 2: REVIEW