Child inherits intelligence from mother, scientists say
Child inherits intelligence from mother (photo: freepik.com)
Scientists have given a clear answer as to who a child can inherit intelligence from. But the fact is that a child's mental abilities depend on both heredity and environmental impact. Only one parent can genetically pass intellectual abilities, according to T4.
Genetic heredity
There is a very interesting distribution in genetics. Only the father is responsible for the sex of a newborn child, thanks to the Y chromosome. The child's intellectual abilities largely depend on the mother. This is because the X chromosome, which is responsible for the female sex, carries the gene for intelligence.
Men also have an X chromosome, but the intelligence gene on this chromosome is usually deactivated. Therefore, the intellectual abilities of children mostly depend on the genes received from the mother.
Scientific experiments
Studies conducted on mice have shown that doubling the mother's intellectual genes leads to the birth of mice with a large brain and a small body.
But doubling the paternal genes results in a small brain and a large body, suggesting that maternal genes have a crucial impact on the development of cognitive functions.
Scientists have also found that paternal genes are responsible for sexual behavior, the degree of aggression, and eating habits. The genes inherited from the mother are responsible for developing thinking, analytical skills, and the ability to predict.
Studies with humans
A group of scientists decided to conduct a study and interviewed more than 12,000 young people aged 14 to 22 from different socioeconomic groups.
The results showed that the intelligence of the respondents correlated with the intelligence of their mothers, differing by a maximum of 15 IQ points. It confirms the researchers' hypothesis about the key role of maternal genes in shaping children's intellectual abilities.
However, a child's intelligence also depends on many other factors (e.g., environment). Genetic studies emphasize the important role of maternal genes in shaping cognitive functions.
