Relationship between resting state connectivity and intelligence

Introduction In line with neural efficiency hypothesis (Haier et al., 1992), functional connectivity in the brain during task performance has been associated with the individiaual differences intelligence level. Recent... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction

In line with neural efficiency hypothesis (Haier et al., 1992), functional connectivity in the brain during task performance has been associated with the individiaual differences intelligence level. Recent studies of brain connectivity during intelligence-related cognitive tasks have demonstrated that brain functional connectivity of people with higher intelligence is more effective than those of less intelligent ones (Salvador et al., 2005; Basset & Bullmore, 2016). We were interested wether EEG connectivity measures during resting state were associated with individual differences in intelligence.

Sample and Methods

The sample included 79 individuals  (17 to 34 years, mean=21.74; SD=3.56, 49 females). The resting state EEG was recorded. EEG connectivity small world index, average path length and cluster coefficient were analysed.

Results and discussion

We found that individuals with higher intelligence demonstrate high interconnectedness of connectivity graphs in alpha and beta frequency band. The results were the comparable for the sensor space connectivity as well for the source space connectivity. Our data is in agreement with the neural efficiency hypothesis.