Research Byte: Multivariate Associations of Fluid Intelligence (Gf) and NAA - Is the P-FIT it?

When it rains--it pours.  Second posting today of research study reinforcing the importance of the P-FIT neuro-model of intelligence.

In a prior Interactive Metronome-Home blog post I provide an overview description of the P-FIT model.

 

Multivariate Associations of Fluid Intelligence and NAA

1. Aki Nikolaidis1,2,
2. Pauline L. Baniqued1,3,4,
3. Michael B. Kranz1,3,
4. Claire J. Scavuzzo2,5,
5. Aron K. Barbey1,
6. Arthur F. Kramer1,2,3 and
7. Ryan J. Larsen1

+ Author Affiliations

1. ¹Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
2. ²Neuroscience Program and
3. ³Psychology Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
4. ⁴Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
5. ⁵Psychology Department, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

1. Address correspondence to Aki Nikolaidis. Email: g.aki.nikolaidis@gmail.com

Abstract

Understanding the neural and metabolic correlates of fluid intelligence not only aids scientists in characterizing cognitive processes involved in intelligence, but it also offers insight into intervention methods to improve fluid intelligence. Here we use magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) to measure N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), a biochemical marker of neural energy production and efficiency. We use principal components analysis (PCA) to examine how the distribution of NAA in the frontal and parietal lobes relates to fluid intelligence. We find that a left lateralized frontal-parietal component predicts fluid intelligence, and it does so independently of brain size, another significant predictor of fluid intelligence. These results suggest that the left motor regions play a key role in the visualization and planning necessary for spatial cognition and reasoning, and we discuss these findings in the context of the Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory of intelligence.