According to this new study, children with the highest IQs start out with a thinner cortex, which undergoes rapid growth, peaking at around age 12, instead of age 8 or 9 for children who got average scores on IQ tests.
Research from the National Institute of Health shows that 50 percent of intelligence comes from genetics, while the other 50 percent comes from other factors, including the child's environment. For the 50 percent that parents can control, they play a key role in supporting the cognitive development of their child.
The research shows that while children are born with the potential to be gifted, the environment and nurture plays an important role in developing those innate abilities. In fact, researchers estimate conservatively that environmental influences can add 20-40 points on measured intelligence.
Signs your kid may be gifted
Keen observation, curiosity and tendency to ask questions. Ability to think abstractly, while showing signs of creativity and inventiveness. Early development of motor skills (e.g., balance, coordination and movement). Finds joy in discovering new interests or grasping new concepts.
Very smart children may seem advanced in many ways, but a new study shows they actually lag behind other kids in development of the "thinking" part of the brain. The brain's outer mantle, or cortex, gets thicker and then thins during childhood and the teen years.
The Gifted Child's Struggle
Giftedness can create problems and conflicts; being a gifted child can also mean difficulty socializing with age peers, thinking styles that don't always mesh well with the demands from the environment, even children who see themselves as little adults, challenging teachers and parents.
The term “gifted kid syndrome” is essentially this. It is every child who was raised with constant praise and higher-achieving than others when they were young. It is every child who grew up, found themselves amongst other high-achieving students, and failed to adapt.
Scientists have long known that our ability to think quickly and recall information, also known as fluid intelligence, peaks around age 20 and then begins a slow decline.
gifted child, any child who is naturally endowed with a high degree of general mental ability or extraordinary ability in a specific sphere of activity or knowledge.
Researchers have previously shown that a person's IQ is highly influenced by genetic factors, and have even identified certain genes that play a role. They've also shown that performance in school has genetic factors. But it's been unclear whether the same genes that influence IQ also influence grades and test scores.
There is a difference between a child who is smart or bright and one that is gifted. All gifted children can and are considered to be bright, but not all bright children can be considered gifted.
Also, is intelligence more of a genetic or environmental trait? If a person with a high IQ marries someone with a lower IQ, their kids could have most any IQ. The same is true for two high IQ parents (although their kids will tend to have higher IQs).
The National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) defines giftedness as “Gifted individuals are those who demonstrate outstanding levels of aptitude (defined as an exceptional ability to reason and learn) or competence (documented performance or achievement in top 10% or rarer) in one or more domains.
Like most aspects of human behavior and cognition, intelligence is a complex trait that is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.
115 to 129: Above average or bright. 130 to 144: Moderately gifted. 145 to 159: Highly gifted. 160 to 179: Exceptionally gifted.
While we like to think everyone is special, some people have extraordinary abilities — intellectual, artistic, social, or athletic. Many experts believe only 3 to 5 percent of the population is gifted, though some estimates reach 20 percent.
The causes of giftedness in cognitive or physical abilities are complex, involving both genetic and environmental contributions (Sternberg & Davidson, 2005).
The potential for giftedness or a high level of intellectual development begins very early in a child's life. Studies since the early 1970s consistently show that such development is the result of an interaction between the child's genetic endowment and a rich and appropriate environment in which the child grows.
Anecdotally, smarter people do seem to live longer. Isaac Newton died in 1727 aged 84, the philosopher-mathematician Bertrand Russell lived to 97, while Nobel Prize-winning neurobiologist Rita Levi-Montalcini died in 2012 aged 103.
The average child's IQ is not stable until around four years of age. It may be much later in children who were born early or who have significant health issues.
That said, science has indicated that learning is most effective between 10 am to 2 pm and from 4 pm to 10 pm, when the brain is in an acquisition mode.
Giftedness, we learned, often comes with intense emotions, quirks, anxiety that manifests as anger, intelligence that can read as argumentative, and sensitivity to stimuli that can mimic processing disorders.
A gifted child may have to concede that he has broken a rule, but he can still argue over the consequences. He may think the rule was unfair or the punishment is unfair, and with gifted kids, issues of fairness are not simply matters of debate. They often have a deep sense of justice.