If you have a high IQ, you might want to thank your mother.
That’s because intelligence, among other genes, comes from your mother or father.
Every human’s genetic code consists of roughly 20,000 genes that determine which traits are expressed in their physical characteristics, health and even personality.
Some traits are linked to a single gene – such as eye color, freckles and dimples – while others are determined by multiple genes, such as hair color and height.
There are many different ways that people inherit genes from their parents.
The first is through a dominant gene – which only needs to be passed down from one parent for the associated trait to be expressed in their child. By comparison, recessive genes must be passed on from both parents to be expressed.
Brown eyes are an example of a dominant genetic trait. If one parent has them, there is a good chance their child will inherit them. Blue eyes, on the other hand, are recessive, so both parents must carry that gene before their child can have them.
But there are also more complex gene inheritance patterns, the most common of which is X-linked inheritance.
X-linked traits are influenced by gene variants on the X chromosome. Hair color is an example of this, as are conditions such as sickle cell anemia or cystic fibrosis.
Children generally inherit a 50/50 split of their parents’ genes. But certain traits come from mother rather than father, and vice versa
Intelligence: Mom
Intelligence is another example of an X-linked trait. And because women carry two X chromosomes and men only one, women are twice as likely to pass on traits linked to intelligence, research shows.
A 2006 study conducted by the Department of Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences in Glasgow, Scotland, interviewed 12,686 people aged 14 to 22 each year between 1994 and 2004.
They found that each study participant’s IQ differed, on average, by only 15 points from their mother’s.
Thus, the researchers concluded that the strongest predictor of a person’s intelligence is their mother’s IQ.
The famous American actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster and her two sons are an example of this.
She has a “genius” IQ of 132, reportedly taught herself to read at the age of three and was valedictorian in high school.
Her sons appear to have inherited their mother’s above-average intelligence. Her eldest, Charlie, attended his mother’s alma mater, Yale University, and is pursuing a career in acting. Her youngest, Kit, is a research scientist at Princeton University.
The famous American actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster and her two sons are an example of this. She has a “genius” IQ of 132, reportedly taught herself to read at age three and was high school valedictorian
But genetics is not the only factor that influences intelligence.
In fact, twin studies suggest that only about 40 percent of intelligence is hereditary. Environmental factors are responsible for the remaining 60 percent, such as education, nutrition and health.
Early Puberty: Dad
Were you an early bloomer? If so, blame your father.
A 2013 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that mutations in the MKRN3 gene are associated with early onset of puberty, that is, before the age of eight in girls and before the age of nine in boys.
For this study, researchers screened the genomes of 32 people who had experienced early puberty, from 15 families.
They found mutations in the MKRN3 gene in 15 people from five families.
In all these cases, the mutated gene was inherited from the father.
The researchers concluded that these mutations ‘release the brakes’ on puberty, causing children to enter this chapter of adolescence earlier than their peers.
But like intelligence, genetics isn’t the only factor influencing the onset of puberty.
Although the exact cause of early puberty often cannot be found in individual cases, other possible causes include hormonal medications, cancer and diet.
ADHD: Mom
Mel B (right) and her daughter are both diagnosed with ADHD
If you have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it may be the result of genes that affect your mother’s brain chemistry.
A 2010 study published in JAMA Psychiatry Research found that children born to mothers with lower than normal serotonin levels were 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to develop ADHD than children whose mothers had normal serotonin levels.
Serotonin is a hormone that transmits messages between nerve cells in the brain and throughout the body.
It plays a particularly important role in regulating mood and sleep. digestion and sexual desire.
The production of this hormone is regulated by several genes, but the most important are TPH1 and TPH2. Certain mutations in these genes can hinder serotonin production, and mothers who had them were more likely to have children with ADHD.
Mel B (Melanie Brown), who was part of the popular pop group ‘The Spice Girls’, revealed in 2019 that she had been diagnosed with ADHD, along with anxiety, dyspraxia and dyslexia.
Her daughter Phoenix told Teen Vogue in 2023 that she had also been diagnosed with the disorder.
Fertility: Dad
A daughter’s fertility may be affected by a gene inherited from her father.
Human oocytes have centrioles or cylindrical organelles that are involved in the development of spindle fibers during cell division. But this part of the egg is naturally eliminated during the development process.
If the centrioles are not eliminated, the egg will not be viable.
Nicole Kidman (right), pictured with her father, has suffered from infertility and pregnancy loss
A 2016 study published in the journal Science discovered that some women become infertile because they inherit a dysfunctional gene from their father that prevents centrioles from being eliminated from their eggs.
Nicole Kidman has shared the challenges and heartbreak of infertility, including how she suffered an ectopic pregnancy, miscarriages and failed treatments.
It wasn’t until 2008, at the age of 41, that she gave birth to her first biological daughter via IVF.
Sleep pattern: mom
If you suffer from insomnia, chances are your mother does too.
A 2023 study published in the Journal for child psychology and psychiatry found that children of women with insomnia are more likely to develop insomnia themselves.
This suggests that children may inherit a predisposition to the sleep disorder from their mothers.
In fact, about 35 percent of people with insomnia have a family history of the disorder, with the mother being the most affected family member, according to a 2012 study. judgement.
But insomnia is a complex condition that is often caused by multiple converging factors. Just because your mother has it doesn’t necessarily mean you will too. It increases your risk.