The quality of sperm may tell about our intellectual potential, evolutionary physiologist Geoffrey Miller form the University of New Mexico says. According to his studies, men who scored high in IQ tests had more of healthy sperm cells in their ejaculate. On the other hand, men with lower IQ levels had fewer sperm cells and their spermatozoa were less active.
Geoffrey Miller says that this link between sperm quality and intellect level stems from a complicated chain of biological and environmental interactions that has formed to help women to choose the right partner.
Miller thinks that intellect level is a reliable indicator of the whole body condition. “Only the half of genes existing in our brain is working. This means that intellect level may be only doubtfully however quite freely considered for mutations in our hereditary system by women” – he said. However, the scientist emphasized that the findings didn’t mean the sperm health and the intellect level were determined by the same genes.
The link between sperm and intellect was revealed after reanalyzing the data obtained in 1985 on the health impacts of Agent Orange exposure, a chemical weapon used in Vietnam.
Back in 1985, 4402 Vietnam veterans who suffered from Agent Orange exposure participated in three days of medical and physiological examinations. 425 participants provided semen samples.
After the research group, led by Miller, processed the data, they found evident connection of linguistic and arithmetical skills of the men involved in the tests with their sperm quality. The factors that could distort the results such as age, drug use and medicine taken by veterans were also considered.
Agent Orange was used to defoliate jungle forests where Vietcong guerrillas were hiding. The weapon contained much of dioxins that cause serious health problems, including cancer.
