How having a brain like Einstein’s means you’ll live to a grand old age
FROM Michelangelo to Charles Darwin, many geniuses live well into old age.
But this is not a coincidence, as research shows genes linked with intelligence may also help people to live longer.
Michelangelo died aged 88, more than 50 years after completing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, while Sir Isaac Newton made it to 84, a good 60 years after – so legend has it – an apple falling from a tree led him to the theory of gravity.
A study has found that those who have won the genetic lottery for intelligence can expect a long life. Researchers, led by the University of Edinburgh, discovered more than 500 genes that make some people quick thinkers, by causing brain cells to be made more efficiently. They say variations in these genes can also help people live longer.
It may be that these genes slow down the ageing process, so that it is not just clever people’s life decisions, such as choosing not to smoke or drink, that help them make it to old age.
The report’s lead author, Dr David Hill, said: ‘This study is the largest study aimed at finding genetic variants involved in intelligence differences.
‘In our study we also found that the same genetic variants linked to higher intelligence are also linked to living longer.’
It was suspected that the genes linked to longevity are also linked to intelligence, but that evidence was based on databases and studies of twins, who share genes.
The latest study is the first to look at people’s DNA to find genetic variations for intelligence and long life.
Comparing the DNA of more than 240,000 people, researchers discovered 538 genes associated with intellectual ability.
Charles Darwin, the naturalist who devised the theory of evolution, died when he was 73, while Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, made it to 83.
The link between old age and brainpower was made using the UK Biobank – a major genetic study into the role of nature and nurture in health.
People were given intelligence tests and their results were compared to their genetics.
Experts say 50 to 80 per cent of the difference between individuals’ intelligence can be blamed on their parents.
This is the first study to show the same variations may influence the time at which we die. The aim was to identify genetic variants linked to intelligence, but it also found these were linked to lower rates of tiredness and diabetes in clever people.
The study is published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.