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Intelligence and neural efficiency
Abstract
We review research on the neural efficiency hypothesis of intelligence, stating that brighter individuals display lower (more efficient) brain activation while performing cognitive tasks [Haier, R.J., Siegel, B.V., Nuechterlein, K.H., Hazlett, E., Wu, J.C., Paek, J., Browning, H.L., Buchsbaum, M.S., 1988. Cortical glucose metabolic rate correlates of abstract reasoning and attention studied with positron emission tomography. Intelligence 12, 199-217]. While most early studies confirmed this hypothesis later research has revealed contradictory evidence or has identified some moderating variables like sex, task type, task complexity or brain area. Neuroscientific training studies suggest that neural efficiency also seems to be a function of the amount and quality of learning. From integrating this evidence we conclude that neural efficiency might arise when individuals are confronted with tasks of (subjectively) low to moderate task difficulty and it is mainly observable for frontal brain areas. This is true for easier novel cognitive tasks or after sufficient practice allowing participants to develop appropriate (efficient) strategies to deal with the task. In very complex tasks more able individuals seem to invest more cortical resources resulting in positive correlations between brain usage and cognitive ability. Based on the reviewed evidence we propose future empirical approaches in this field.
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“To exclude the effects of age, gender, intellectual ability and depression,31–33 we included these measures as regressors.”
From Ventral striatum dysfunction in children and adolescents with reactive attachment disorder: functional MRI study (2015) · cites this paper as [32]
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“The reduced DC observed in the frontal cortex of BMB compared to MM may reflect enhanced neural efficiency 39,40 , suggesting that bilingual speakers require less reliance on top-down mechanisms compared to monolinguals 41 .”
Neural Mechanisms of Willed Attention ControlPreprint
Xiong, C., Yang, Q., Kim, S., Meyyappan, S., Bengson, J. J., Mangun, G. R., & Ding, M. (2026) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.110199
Neural Mechanisms of Willed Attention ControlPreprint
Xiong, C., Yang, Q., Kim, S., Meyyappan, S., Bengson, J. J., Mangun, G. R., & Ding, M. (2026) · eLife · doi:10.7554/elife.110199.1
Wei, X., Tian, Y., Lu, Q., Liu, J., Lu, G., Sun, J., Luo, B., Zhao, L., Qiu, C., Dong, W. W., et al. (2026) · CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics · doi:10.1002/cns.70835
“This shift from a positive correlation pattern to a complex negative correlation pattern may reflect the dynamic process of neural networks evolving from a state of “effortful compensation” to “efficient operation” under external intervention [54].”
Metadata
- Authors
- Neubauer, A. C., & Fink, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Graz (AT)
- Corresponding author
- Neubauer, Aljoscha C.
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2009-07
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1004-1023
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2072541188
- Cited by
- 878
- References
- 149
- Citations by year
- 2026: 115 · 2025: 69 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 60 · 2022: 63 · 2021: 65 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 58 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 40 · 2016: 45 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 32
- FWCI
- 40.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Creativity in Education and Neuroscience
- Keywords
- neural efficiency hypothesis, intelligence, brain activation, cognitive task difficulty, frontal cortex, cortical glucose metabolism, cognitive training, learning, moderators, abstract thinking, attention
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Female, Humans, Intelligence, Male, Models, Neurological, Practice, Psychological, Professional Competence, Sex Characteristics
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