Genetics and education are often cited as the biggest influences on intelligence, but a new study claims that disease has far more sway on IQ than either of these.
Scientists from the University of New Mexico analyzed IQs across the United States and declared that exposure to infectious disease had a huge effect on brain power.
They say the reason for this is that humans - and especially children - devote a great deal of energyrunning their brains. If a disease crops up that diverts that energy, then intelligenceinevitably suffers.
Writing in Scientific American, researcher Christopher Eppig said: "Infectious disease is a factor that may rob large amounts of energy away from a developing brain. The evidence suggests that infectious disease is a primary cause of the global variation in human intelligence."
Mr. Eppig said: "The states with the five lowest averages IQ all have higher levels of infectious disease than the states with the five highest averages IQ."
Eppig hopes his hypothesis will allow people wishing to help raise IQs around the globe to do so more efficiently.


据英国《每日邮报》9月7日报道，人们通常认为基因和受教育程度对人的智力影响最大，但一项新的研究表明，疾病对人智商的影响远远超过这两者。

美国新墨西哥大学的科学家们通过分析美国人的智商，得出了这个结论：传染性疾病可对人类脑力产生巨大影响。

科学家称得出这个结论的原因是，人类，特别是儿童总是把大量能量投入到大脑运转上。如果疾病突发，它就会转移这种（运转大脑的）能量，那么智力必然就会受到损伤。


研究员克里斯托弗•埃皮格在《科学美国人》上发表文章说："传染病是夺取处于发育阶段的大脑能量的一个因素。有证据表明，传染病是致使人类智力整体发生变化的决定性因素。"


埃皮格先生说："与平均智商水平最高的五个州相比，智商水平最低的五个洲都存在较严重的传染性疾病。"

埃皮格希望他的推断能更有效的帮助那些想提高智商的人。

• intelligence [in´telidʒəns] n.智力；消息 (初中英语单词)
• mexico [´meksikəu] n.墨西哥 (初中英语单词)
• energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
• running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
• scientific [,saiən´tifik] a.科学(上)的 (初中英语单词)
• factor [´fæktə] n.因素；原动力；要素 (初中英语单词)
• primary [´praiməri] a.主要的 n.居首位的 (初中英语单词)
• exposure [ik´spəuʒə] n.暴露；曝光(时间) (高中英语单词)
• infectious [in´fekʃəs] a.传染，传染(性)的 (高中英语单词)
• variation [,veəri´eiʃən] n.变化；变动 (高中英语单词)
• inevitably [in´evitəbli] ad.不可避免地；必然地 (英语四级单词)
• efficiently [i´fiʃəntli] ad.有效地；能胜任地 (英语六级单词)