PICKING OUR BRAINS

How smart are we? And can we improve our little grey cells? The results of a study for television are really food for thought...

There’s good news for cat lovers, Londoners and video gamers, but couch potatoes might want to rethink their lifestyles.

The Great British Intelligence Test on BBC2, presented by Dr Michael Mosley and Dr Hannah Fry, reveals fascinating results from a vast experiment.

For instance, cat owners have better vocabularies than dog owners and 40-year-olds have the same problem-solving abilities as 12year-olds. Londoners have the best emotional intelligence and playing shoot-’em-up video games can actually be good for the brain.

More than 250,000 people signed up for the online test, the largest of its kind ever undertaken. Devised with scientists at Imperial College in London, it examines problem-solving skills, verbal dexterity, emotional intelligence, attention span, spatial awareness and memory.

Some of the games and tests will also take place in the studio while the programme is showing, and viewers can play along online.

Bookworms go head-to-head with gamers in a contest designed to test memory. Each team of three has to remember and replicate a sequence of flashing lights.

Elsewhere, twentysomethings see whether they’re better at problem solving than an older team, in a task that involves creating shapes on a screen.

The test will also show us how we can maintain and improve our brain power – and what determines intelligence levels in the first place. Michael Mosley says, ‘Evidence suggests those who stay physically and mentally active have better intelligence levels in older age, as do those who learn a second language.

‘And people who’ve never played computer games score much lower on the memory test than those who have. Which means I need to start playing shoot-’em-up games – preferably in French – and Hannah needs to go to the gym more!’

In a bid to find out why people are blessed with high levels of intelligence, mathematician and University Challenge star Bobby Seagull has his brain analysed at The University of Edinburgh. He’s shown to have a higher-than-average amount of grey matter, the area where the majority of brain cells are located.

Michael says, ‘Bobby is fortunate because people who score well tend to live longer, age better and do well in life.’