Blood vessels in eye may determine IQ !

Eyes may be window to brain health!

The width of blood vessels in the retina, located at the back 

of the eye, may indicate brain health years before the onset 

of dementia and other deficits, according to a new study.

Some researchers have wondered whether intelligence 

might serve as a marker indicating the health of the brain, 

and specifically the health of the system of blood vessels that 

provides oxygen and nutrients to the brain.

Researchers used digital retinal imaging, a relatively new 

and non-invasive method, to gain a window onto vascular 

conditions in the brain by looking at the small blood vessels 

of the retina, located at the back of the eye.

Retinal blood vessels share similar size, structure, and 

function with blood vessels in the brain and can provide a 

way of examining brain health in living humans.

Having wider retinal venules was linked with lower IQ 

scores at age 38, even after the researchers accounted for 

various health, lifestyle, and environmental risk factors that 

might have played a role.

Individuals who had wider retinal venules showed evidence 

of general cognitive deficits, with lower scores on numerous 

measures of neuro-psychological functioning, including 

verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working 

memory, and executive function.

Surprisingly, the data revealed that people who had wider 

venules at age 38 also had lower IQ in childhood, a full 25 

years earlier.

It's "remarkable that venular calibre in the eye is related, 

however modestly, to mental test scores of individuals in 

their 30s, and even to IQ scores in childhood," the 

researchers said.

The findings suggest that the processes linking vascular 

health and cognitive functioning begin much earlier than 

previously assumed, years before the onset of dementia and 

other age-related declines in brain functioning.

"Increasing knowledge about retinal vessels may enable 

scientists to develop better diagnosis and treatments to 

increase the levels of oxygen into the brain and by that, to 

prevent age-related worsening of cognitive abilities," 

researchers said.