Are you a worrier? Then you're more likely to be smart！

People prone to anxiety have higher levels of intelligence (IQ)?

• Researchers surveyed 126 students about anxiety and intelligence
• They were scored on the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
• Those who ranked high for anxiety were also the most verbally intelligent
• Experts claim smart people consider past and future events in great detail
• This leads them to replay or imagine scenarios, worry and feel anxious   

Worriers can be kept awake at night replaying the day, or imagining all the possible worst case scenarios in their lives.

But they can at least take comfort in the fact that this behaviour could be a sign of intelligence.

More than 125 students were surveyed about their mood, anxiety levels and intelligence levels - and those found to worry the most, were also the smartest.

The research was carried out at Ontario's Lakehead University, led by Alexander Penney. 

The researchers surveyed 126 students about their anxiety levels, depression, overall mood, social skills, rumination and intelligence by gauging their responses to set questions.

The majority (77 per cent) of participants were women.

Based on their answers, each of the students were then ranked on the both the Cognitive Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS) and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS).

The higher scores on the respective tests indicate more severe test anxiety, and higher verbal intelligence.

People who are verbally intelligent are better at reading and writing, and have stronger verbal reasoning skills. 

By comparison, non-verbally intelligent people are better ‘hands-on’ learners and pick up skills using non-verbal clues.

In the study, those who ranked highest on CTAS were also the most verbally intelligent, according to the WAIS.

However, the students who scored highly for non-verbal intelligence were found to worry less.

Experts believe verbally intelligent people spend more time relaying past and future events, trying to make sense of them, for example.

This means they remember events, conversations and fears in greater detail than non-verbally intelligent people.

People who are non-verbal tend to pick up non-verbal clues, and live more ‘in the moment’ so have little need to replay situations.

‘It is possible that more verbally intelligent individuals are able to consider past and future events in greater detail, leading to more intense rumination and worry,’ said the researchers.

‘Individuals with higher non-verbal intelligence may be stronger at processing the non-verbal signals from individuals they interact with in the moment, leading to a decreased need to re-process past social encounters.’ 

心理学家：焦虑感强的人智商高

焦虑常被认为是心理健康的大敌，但加拿大湖首大学的研究者发现，焦虑水平最高的人往往也是最聪明的。

研究者选取了126名学生(77%为女性)，采用焦虑认知量表和韦氏成人智力量表对他们的情绪、焦虑抑郁程度、社会技能、反思能力和智商水平进行了测试。结果显示，焦虑评分较高的参与者，智力测试中的言语能力较强，更善于写作和阅读，语言推理能力也较强。心理学家认为，言语能力强的人会花更多时间对过去和未来的事情进行重演和设想，试图更好地理解事物的来龙去脉，也就意味着他们需要尽可能详细地记住发生过的事件、谈话和情感，进而经常陷入沉思，也容易焦虑。

You may want to contact us now for a brain screening or EEG screening session to empower your brain by using evidence-based method. 


Sources: 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2879265/Are-worrier-likely-smart-People-prone-anxiety-higher-levels-intelligence.html#ixzz3TiFfuUR7 
http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/12/22/worrying-linked-to-high-verbal-iq/78985.html