How are intelligent people different from others?

Well ... apart from the obvious - that the intelligent people are more 'intelligent', researchers have found a few other interesting points. One point I found out about is the gene known as SSADH. The good version of this gene 'detoxifies' the brain so the brain can work better. Cool!

• Clever people live longer! Intelligent people could live up to 15 years longer than their less bright counterparts, according to scientists who have linked a "smart gene" to longevity. Researchers in Italy found those with the less "smart" variant of the gene, which has already been linked to IQ levels by scientists, were unlikely to live beyond 85. But the team at the University of Calabria found that others with a "good" version of the same gene could expect to live to 100. (Link)

• Intelligent people less likely to believe in God: People with higher IQs are less likely to believe in God, according to a new study. Professor Richard Lynn, emeritus professor of psychology at Ulster University, said many more members of the "intellectual elite" considered themselves atheists than the national average. A decline in religious observance over the last century was directly linked to a rise in average intelligence, he claimed. A survey of Royal Society fellows found that only 3.3 per cent believed in God - at a time when 68.5 per cent of the general UK population described themselves as believers. A separate poll in the 90s found only seven per cent of members of the American National Academy of Sciences believed in God. (Link)