Intelligent 'have better sperm

[Heracles 417]

Intelligent 'have better sperm'

Men of higher intelligence tend to produce better quality sperm, UK research suggests.

A team from the Institute of Psychiatry analysed data from former US soldiers who served during the Vietnam war era.

They found that those who performed better on intelligence tests tended to have more - and more mobile - sperm.

The study, which appears in the journal Intelligence, appears to support the idea that genes underlying intelligence may have other biological effects too.

Therefore, if tiny mutations impair intelligence, they might also harm other characteristics, such as sperm quality.

Conversely, people with robust genes might be blessed with a biological "fitness factor" making them fit, healthy and smart.

Previously, scientists tended to assume that lifestyle factors were more likely to underlie any relationship between intelligence and health.

For instance, brighter people may be less likely to smoke, and more likely to take exercise, both of which are known to impact on mental performance.

Different characteristics

The latest study tested the gene theory by taking two characteristics that seemed unlikely to be associated with each other - intelligence and sperm quality.

They found a small, but statistically significant link, and were able to show that this could not be explained by unhealthy habits, such as smoking or drinking alcohol.

The study was based on 425 men who undertook several intelligence tests and provided semen samples.

The researchers found that independently of age and lifestyle, intelligence was correlated with all three measures of sperm quality - numbers, concentration, and ability to move.

Lead researcher Dr Rosalind Arden said: "This does not mean that men who prefer Play-Doh to Plato always have poor sperm: the relationship we found was marginal.

"But our results do support the theoretically important 'fitness factor' idea.

"We look forward to seeing if the results can be replicated in other data sets, with other measures of intelligence and other measures of physical health that are also strongly related to evolutionary fitness."

Dr Allan Pacey is an expert in fertility at the University of Sheffield.

He said: "The fact that it's possible to detect a statistical relationship between intelligence and semen quality in adult men probably says more about the co-development of brain and testicles when the man was in his mother's womb, and therefore how well they both function in adult life, rather than suggesting that playing Sudoku can somehow stimulate more sperm to be produced.

"The improvement in semen quality with intelligence observed in this paper is small and therefore it is unlikely to have a big impact on the ability of men of different intelligences to conceive."

The semen samples were collected in 1985 by the US Centers for Disease Control as part of a large-scale study into the health of US soldiers who served during the Vietnam Era. Some of the men in our sample had served in Vietnam, some had served in Germany, Korea and the USA.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/7767877.stm

Published: 2008/12/05 16:37:57 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

[Amby 490]

I posted this one time before? Like a month ago maybe...not from the BBC though.

[doodlebugg 10]

my ex was a frikkin idiot and his sperm were obviously top rate since my two kids are healthy.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

Nice

That's why I keep on saying that stupid people should not mate

[JayJay 4]

Oh, I can second this. I have done the experiment myself. My DP helped me. We set up tiny desks and little tiny exam papers, then made each one of the three million take the test before sending them to Mrs Eggy for screening and further interview.

Okay, so that's probably the silliest thing I've written this entire day. Ah well

[Ban Hammer 14,293]

Oh, I can second this. I have done the experiment myself. My DP helped me. We set up tiny desks and little tiny exam papers, then made each one of the three million take the test before sending them to Mrs Eggy for screening and further interview.

Okay, so that's probably the silliest thing I've written this entire day. Ah well

i'm sure i'm reading that wrong.

[rocks 494]

Oh, I can second this. I have done the experiment myself. My DP helped me. We set up tiny desks and little tiny exam papers, then made each one of the three million take the test before sending them to Mrs Eggy for screening and further interview.

Okay, so that's probably the silliest thing I've written this entire day. Ah well

i'm sure i'm reading that wrong.

dr pepper?

[Ban Hammer 14,293]

Oh, I can second this. I have done the experiment myself. My DP helped me. We set up tiny desks and little tiny exam papers, then made each one of the three million take the test before sending them to Mrs Eggy for screening and further interview.

Okay, so that's probably the silliest thing I've written this entire day. Ah well

i'm sure i'm reading that wrong.

dr pepper?

first word is double

[rocks 494]

Oh, I can second this. I have done the experiment myself. My DP helped me. We set up tiny desks and little tiny exam papers, then made each one of the three million take the test before sending them to Mrs Eggy for screening and further interview.

Okay, so that's probably the silliest thing I've written this entire day. Ah well

i'm sure i'm reading that wrong.

dr pepper?

first word is double

to be honest that's what i though of too but i was trying to be clean.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Sperm elitism.

[JayJay 4]

Bwaah! My Dear Partner!!! Harry, that is! We're not married (yet) and he is my guy, so I do the DP thing to refer to the Dear Partner as many of ya do the DH or DW thing. Ya know? You knoooow...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Bwaah! My Dear Partner!!! Harry, that is! We're not married (yet) and he is my guy, so I do the DP thing to refer to the Dear Partner as many of ya do the DH or DW thing. Ya know? You knoooow...

Yeah, Charles...get your mind out of the gutter.

[Ban Hammer 14,293]

Bwaah! My Dear Partner!!! Harry, that is! We're not married (yet) and he is my guy, so I do the DP thing to refer to the Dear Partner as many of ya do the DH or DW thing. Ya know? You knoooow...

Yeah, Charles...get your mind out of the gutter.