New algorithm that may predict your intelligence
New York, June 30: Be careful if you lie about your IQ as researchers have developed a machine-learning algorithm that may tell how smart you are by looking at a scan of your brain.
The study showed that the new computing tool can predict a person's intelligence from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of their resting state brain activity.
The fMRI develops a map of brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow to specific brain regions.
"We found if we just have people lie in the scanner and do nothing while we measure the pattern of activity in their brain, we can use the data to predict their intelligence," said co-author Ralph Adolphs from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
To train their algorithm on the complex patterns of activity in the human brain, the researchers downloaded the brain scans and intelligence scores from almost 900 individuals.
The researchers found that after processing the data, the algorithm was able to predict intelligence at statistically significant levels across the subjects.
"The information that we derive from the brain measurements can be used to account for about 20 per cent of the variance in intelligence we observed in our subjects," said Julien Dubois from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre.
In predicting intelligence from brain scans, the algorithm is doing something that humans cannot, because even an experienced neuroscientist cannot look at a brain scan and tell how intelligent a person is, the researchers said.
The researchers also conducted a parallel study, using the same test population and approach, that attempted to predict personality traits from fMRI brain scans.
The personality test they used divides personality into five scales -- openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism.
However, it has turned out to be much more difficult to predict personality using the method the team used for predicting intelligence.
The two studies are yet to be published in the separate journals Personality Neuroscience and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
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UP: Misled by GPS navigation, car falls into river from partially constructed bridge, 3 dead
Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.
The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.
"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.
The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.
There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.
Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.
The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) November 24, 2024
