Brainy people live 15 years longer, says new study

Being brainy can add 15 years to your life expectancy.

That’s according to a new study, which found those with good versions of a gene linked to intelligence are more likely to reach 100.

Researchers at the University of Calabria, Italy, also found that those with rogue or poor copies of the same gene were unlikely to survive past 85.

Now here at DietPixie we are not ones to brag, but being the smart people we are, we are pretty happy with these findings.

However, being the brain-boxes we are, we are also a little sceptical.

I mean, there are a whole load of supposedly intelligent people who were cut down in the prime of their youth. My nan, God bless her soul, lived until she was 106, and she was hardly the sharpest tool in the box. In fact, she thought our new microwave was a TV and kept asking me when Bergerac was on. Sorry Nan!

Also, what do they mean when they say 15 years longer? If they just said the average life expectancy was higher among people with this gene, that would make more sense. But why 15? And longer than what?

Anyway, the Italian researchers have at least some science to back up their theory. Plus it was on this week’s New Scientist.

It all stems for this ‘intelligence’ gene. It apparently governs an enzyme in our bodies which helps destroy a chemical known to dampen brain activity and cause drowsiness.

The same chemical - well, it’s easier than giving its proper title succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase - also detoxifies the brain by getting rid of excess acid, thereby protecting the cells from damage, which can accelerate the ageing process.

Ok, so how do they know that having a good copy of this gene makes us smarter? Well, apparently, those with two copies of the ‘T’ version - which does not work as well as the ‘C’ variety - did less well in IQ tests.

They also tended to watch Big Brother. Just joking!

So how did they come up with these findings. Their study sample was 115 elderly men and women (aged between 65 and 85) - a small sample, if you ask us.

Anyway, they all completed memory and mental dexterity test usually used to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease.

Those carrying the two ‘T’ variants performed significantly worse than the others. The Italian researchers then looked at how common the versions of the gene were across age ranges. And let’s just say there were very few pople with the two ‘T’ variants in the 85-100 bracket.

Speakign to the New Scientist, the researchers said that having a double dose of the rogue gene appeared to make people more vulnerable to mental decline in old age, as well as affecting their survival.

But they stressed that genes do not tell the whole story.

Professor Giuseppe Passarino said: “There’s no doubt lifestyle such as reading, having challenging work and enriching your cultural life is far more important than having the bad variant.”

Professor Robert Plomin, of the Institute of Psychiatry in London, who in 2004 linked the gene to IQ, said: “Although the sample size is small…the reported associations with cognitive ability are significant and in line with our previous results.”