Some societies seem to have better brains than others. Patents, Nobel Prizes, innovative startups and IPOs, all attest to the presence of brains that seem to be thinking better and faster. Societies with better brains (on average) are more prosperous and innovative societies. National GDP rises exponentially with the average IQ of the population, for example.
But the parts of the brain that make smart people special, are slow to develop in childhood and can be quick to degenerate in adulthood. It is tragic for a person to just begin to reach his potential, only to start fading into oblivion. But that is what happens too often in even the brightest societies, as the fragile LIFO (last in first out) brain networks fall prey to the hazards of daily life.
It is the way that the brain is “networked” which makes it possible to be intelligent. There are (at least) three classes of brain networks:
- Brain networks based on structural connectivity: These are neural elements that are connected anatomically. These networks depend upon normal maturational development.
- Brain networks based on functional connectivity: These are neural elements that are distant from each other, but are “coactivated” in functional manner in the course of normal brain activity. These networks cannot emerge fully until the structural networks and elements have developed fully.
- Brain networks based on effective connectivity: These networks can emerge from computer model analysis (and graphing analysis) when examining possible causal effects of a sometimes obscure and abstract nature.
- More at source
The fragile LIFO brain networks involved in working memory, attention, and execution (executive function) are very sensitive to a number of modifiable risk factors (MRFs) including blood pressure, diabetes, air pollution, alcohol consumption, and several others. The choices a person makes regarding what to eat, how much to smoke or drink, whether to treat common medical conditions, where to live, and how much to exercise, contribute to the longevity of his reasoning skills. His lifestyle choices on these matters (and others) will affect the genetic control of cellular and organ functions which will determine how soon he will be afflicted with dementia and other disorders of aging.
This study reveals, in a cohort of nearly 40,000 UK Biobank participants, the genetic and modifiable risk factors’ associations with brain regions in a ‘last in, first out’ (LIFO) network that show earlier and accelerated ageing and are particularly vulnerable to disease processes such as that of Alzheimer’s disease8. Seven genetic clusters, two of which in the pseudo-autosomal region of the sex chromosomes coding for two antigens of the XG blood system, were found significantly associated and replicated genome-wide. In addition, after accounting for age and sex effects, diabetes, traffic-related pollution and alcohol were the most deleterious modifiable risk factors (MRFs) on these particularly vulnerable brain regions.
Nature Communications 27 March 2024
It is of interest to me how the development of higher level brain networks must wait for the development and maturation of lower level brain networks. Lower level brain networks cannot develop fully until the white matter is myelinated and the gray matter is “pruned.”
What is of special interest to me is the implied existence of even higher, largely undiscovered, brain networks which must wait in their turn for the development of mid-level brain networks.
It can be a long time to wait, if one is expectant of reaching the higher levels of brain function. Sadly, just at that time, the processes of decay and degeneration can set in. It is a tragedy when that happens.
Some people are genetically predisposed to dementia, schizophrenia, or Parkinson’s Disease etc. They may never have to chance to modify their own risk factors meaningfully via lifestyle choices, if they are born into an impoverished society or an impoverished life and mindset.
It is not a coincidence that populations with a higher average IQ tend to live longer, and more prosperous lives.
We are all born ignorant. But if people choose to squander their natural inheritance of cognitive wealth, or submit the control of their intelligence to corrupt elites who will squander their natural inheritance for them, it may make little difference in the long run whether they were born smart or stupid.
Learn what you can. Read your 10,000 books. Develop a wide range of practical skills and philosophical competencies. Learn to listen and to get along with others, to learn from their experiences and proficiencies.
Watch closely. Things may get interesting.
More:
What you see in the video below represents the low end of the rampant brain decay taking place inside poorly governed cities and towns around the world — but particularly in parts of North America and Europe where governments have been taken over by leftist nihilists. Follow the money. Follow the journey of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
You don’t have to be addicted to chemical substances in order to ruin a perfectly good brain. There are many other forms of ruinous addiction, for those who wouldn’t be caught dead using illegal drugs. Some of them are almost as lethal — but just as destructive in the long run.
Social media is as addictive as most drugs. For too many adolescents and young adults, social media destroys brains and lives.
University education — for both graduates and dropouts — can be lethal to an otherwise perfectly good brain. The lefty/nihilist brain virus (sometimes called the woke mind virus) is prevalent on university campuses in particularly virulent and lethal forms.
Mainlining mainstream media and government propaganda can destroy brains of all ages. The lies the media tells are designed to lull brains to sleep. When brains are not used, they decay. This is one of the reasons for a high prevalence of senility, along with other causes mentioned above.
Fake crises such as the climate apocalypse crusade contribute to economic decline (except among the elites who directly benefit). This economic decline contributes to a high amplitude baseline anxiety which is damaging to brain health. The elites profit, while the middle and lower classes are pummeled by legislative, bureaucratic, and judicial malpractice.
A massive governmental downsizing, targeting the deep state first, is the only relief that citizens can hope for. Everything else is just bandaids on an infected wound, with sepsis following the bloodstream to the brain.
Unfortunately, the deep state has learned to control national election outcomes in the US through control of just a few corrupt election districts in almost every state.
al fin next level 