Just Emil Kirkegaard Things

Share this post

Paper: Intelligence and semen quality are positively correlated

www.emilkirkegaard.com

Paper: Intelligence and semen quality are positively correlated

Emil O. W. Kirkegaard
Dec 24, 2012
Share
Share this post

Paper: Intelligence and semen quality are positively correlated

www.emilkirkegaard.com

Intelligence and semen quality are positively correlated

Human cognitive abilities inter-correlate to form a positive matrix, from which a large first factor, called ‘Spearman's g’ or general intelligence, can be extracted. General intelligence itself is correlated with many important health outcomes including cardio-vascular function and longevity. However, the important evolutionary question of whether intelligence is a fitness- related trait has not been tested directly, let alone answered. If the correlations among cognitive abilities are part of a larger matrix of positive associations among fitness-related traits, then intelligence ought to correlate with seemingly unrelated traits that affect fitness—such as semen quality. We found significant positive correlations between intelligence and 3 key indices of semen quality: log sperm concentration (r=.15, p=.002), log sperm count (r=.19, pb.001), and sperm motility (r=.14, p=.002) in a large sample of US Army Veterans. None was mediated by age, body mass index, days of sexual abstinence, service in Vietnam, or use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or hard drugs. These results suggest that a phenotype-wide fitness factor may contribute to the association between intelligence and health. Clarifying whether a fitness factor exists is important theoretically for understanding the genomic architecture of fitness-related traits, and practically for understanding patterns of human physical and psychological health.

Odd.

Share
Share this post

Paper: Intelligence and semen quality are positively correlated

www.emilkirkegaard.com
Comments
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Emil O. W. Kirkegaard
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing