The Evidence for Geary's Theory on the Role of Mitochondrial Functioning in Human Intelligence Is Not Entirely Convincing

Overview

Journal J Intell

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2020 Jul 24

PMID 32698405

Citations 1

Authors

Anna-Lena Schubert

Dirk Hagemann

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Geary (2018, 2019) suggested that heritable and environmentally caused differences in mitochondrial functioning affect the integrity and efficiency of neurons and supporting glia cells and may thus contribute to individual differences in higher-order cognitive functioning and physical health. In our comment, we want to pose three questions aimed at different aspects of Geary's theory that critically evaluate his theory in the light of evidence from neurocognitive, cognitive enhancement, and behavioral genetics research. We question (1) if Geary's theory explains why certain cognitive processes show a stronger age-related decline than others; (2) if intervention studies in healthy younger adults support the claim that variation in mitochondrial functioning underlies variation in human intelligence; and (3) if predictions arising from the matrilineal heredity of mitochondrial DNA are supported by behavioral genetics research. We come to the conclusion that there are likely many more biological and social factors contributing to variation in human intelligence than mitochondrial functioning.

Citing Articles

Mitochondrial Functions, Cognition, and the Evolution of Intelligence: Reply to Commentaries and Moving Forward.

Geary D J Intell. 2020; 8(4).

PMID: 33302466 PMC: 7768403. DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence8040042.

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