Have you ever wondered whether you can make yourself a little smarter and increase your IQ score?
Our answer — an emphatic YES!
Just like you can keep your brain young, you can also improve your intelligence and cognitive abilities, consequently improving your IQ score.
The reverse is also true. If you neglect improving your cognitive abilities, they will suffer a decline and hence lower your current IQ score.
Since you're here, it means you're motivated to learn how to improve your IQ levels. This article explores the intelligence quotient and answers the all-important question, "Can intelligence be improved?" with twelve practical and bona fide ways to increase your intelligence, cognitive abilities, and IQ score.
But before we can discuss how to increase our intelligence, let's start with a brief background about what IQ is all about.
What Is This Thing Called an Intelligence Quotient?
Intelligence Quotient, or IQ, is a measure of intelligence that assesses an individual's cognitive and intellectual abilities and how they apply them in solving problems and making predictions compared to people in your age group. Your IQ level is measured by taking a standardized IQ test, and depending on how well a person excels in the tests, they achieve a corresponding IQ score.
IQ is often used as a shorthand for "smartness," but it's important to understand that it's just one aspect of intelligence.
IQ scores are designed to measure cognitive skills like problem-solving and logical reasoning but don't capture the entire spectrum of human intelligence.
Emotional intelligence, creativity, critical thinking, practical know-how, and social skills are just as crucial to a person's overall intellectual ability but aren't reflected in IQ scores. Some theorists reject the concept of IQ scores in favor of looking at people in terms of different types of intelligence, none of which is better than the other.
That said, for the sake of this discussion, we will focus primarily on the intellectual abilities and cognitive processes used to determine a person's intelligence quotient.
Can You Increase IQ?
An IQ score is a number that represents different aspects of cognitive functioning, such as working memory, reasoning capacity, spatial awareness, language skills, and mathematics. When most people ask, "Can you increase your IQ," it's likely that what they really want to know is, "Can you increase your intelligence?"
Yes, people want that higher IQ level, but it's really about what the number means. For example, you could practice specific sections of an IQ test to boost your IQ scores. However, if your training is limited to becoming "test savvy," it's not likely to carry over into real-world applications.
As such, we want to achieve improved IQ scores that indicate an increase in our general intelligence.
Improving your IQ score can enhance your problem-solving abilities and increase your capacity to understand complex concepts. These skills are invaluable in both professional settings and daily decision-making. As you develop these cognitive skills, you'll find it easier to navigate challenges, plan effectively, and adapt to new situations swiftly and efficiently.
Researchers have conducted numerous training studies to prove that increasing IQ is possible. Research shows that focused and prolonged training can produce substantial and positive effects on intelligence levels in late adolescents between 18 and 19.
Another study shows a positive correlation between training and increased fluid intelligence. According to psychologist Raymond B. Cattell's Theory of Intelligence, the human brain works through intelligence and cognitive abilities, also called general intelligence.
General intelligence can be subdivided into fluid and crystallized intelligence.
Fluid intelligence encompasses how well we reason and solve problems without relying on our past experiences or knowledge. Good examples include solving puzzles or creating a strategy to solve an unexpected problem. Crystallized intelligence, on the other hand, refers to our ability to utilize our knowledge and past experiences to solve problems.
Although it does not offer insights into the training timelines, one thing is certain: fluid intelligence — which is more infused in our cognitive functions — is trainable.
For decades, researchers pegged IQ levels mostly on genes. Intelligence was thought to be static, and other factors in the outside environment, including schooling, had a negligible effect on it. However, newer research has consistently proven that, indeed, we can improve our IQ.
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12 Tips on How to Increase IQ Scores on IQ Tests
When we talk about boosting intelligence, we're looking at much more than just nudging up an IQ test score — it’s about enhancing how you think, learn, and interact with the world around you.
Taking an IQ test can provide great insights into some of your intelligence abilities, but as research shows, your efforts and deliberate actions can also make an impact on your IQ.
Remember that the human brain is more malleable than you can imagine. It creates new neural pathways that can accommodate new challenges like learning a musical instrument or using your non-dominant hand for important chores.
That said, if you want to raise your IQ score (and have it indicate increased intelligence and cognitive health), you would need to work on areas that IQ testing focuses on, including problem-solving and reasoning activities.
Below, we'll look at the strategies you can adopt to raise your IQ, cognitive abilities, and overall brain health.
Want to get a baseline? Take our online IQ test today.
1. Brain Engaging Games
Brain exercises are one of the best ways to boost IQ.
Studies show that brain-training games improve memory and strengthen other cognitive abilities like concentration, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. Many doctors encourage dementia patients to play memory games to keep the brain active and agile and fight cognitive decline.
Some of the best games you can try out to garner better cognitive scores include:
- Chess: Playing chess has been proven to improve memory and executive function, and these improved functions can earn you some extra IQ points. Numerous studies have also shown that the complex game of chess can increase academic performance in middle school children.
- Strategy Board Games: Beyond chess, games like Go, Checkers, Settlers of Catan, Stratego, or Risk involve planning, critical thinking, and tactical skills. Strategy board games require players to anticipate opponents' moves and devise long-term plans, which sharpens strategic thinking and improves problem-solving skills.
- Jigsaw Puzzles: Doing jigsaw puzzles (or the modern version of sticker puzzles for adults) challenges your brain to recognize patterns and think analytically, skills that can lead to improvements in cognitive functioning and potentially boost your IQ score.
- Crossword Puzzles: Solving crossword puzzles and playing word games enhances your vocabulary, verbal skills, and memory, all of which can contribute to better cognitive flexibility.
- Sudoku: Playing Sudoku and other logic games sharpens your reasoning, logical thinking, and problem-solving skills, helping you to develop greater mental agility and focus.
- Card Games: Playing card games improves strategic thinking and memory retention, enhancing your ability to make quick decisions and analyze complex situations.
- Online Matching Games: Research supports that playing online matching games can enhance short-term memory and pattern recognition skills. These games require players to remember the location and attributes of various elements, which can improve cognitive agility and attention to detail.
- Trivia Games: Engaging in trivia games boosts your ability to recall information quickly and accurately, enhancing knowledge retention and cognitive speed. Playing with others adds a social dimension that can enhance cognitive resilience and emotional intelligence, as interacting and competing in a fun environment encourages quicker thinking and adaptability.
- Memory Games: Memory games strengthen neural connections by challenging players to recall sequences and locations, thereby enhancing both working memory and concentration.
If you are not one for "company," you can take up online IQ games and have fun working toward gaining a higher IQ from the comfort of your home.
2. Role Playing Games
Role-playing board games, like Dungeons and Dragons, can have a positive impact on cognitive functioning and overall cognitive health. These games involve complex storytelling and problem-solving, requiring players to think critically and creatively.
Players often have to strategize, make quick decisions based on new information, and adapt to evolving scenarios, which can enhance cognitive flexibility and planning skills. Additionally, the social interaction and collaborative aspects of these games can improve communication skills and emotional intelligence, further contributing to cognitive resilience.
Classic “in-person” role-playing games like D&D, Warhammer, Shadowrun, and Magic the Gathering have stood the test of time due to their rich settings, deep lore, and the flexibility they offer players in crafting unique stories and experiences. Some popular role-playing board games that are currently well-liked among gamers include Gloomhaven, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Descent: Journeys in the Dark, Arkham Horror: The Card Game, and Star Wars: Imperial Assault, just to name a few.
Role-playing video games (RPGs) also play a significant role in enhancing cognitive functions. These digital adventures immerse players in rich, interactive worlds where they must navigate complex narratives and make choices that affect their character's development and the story's outcome. Engaging with these dynamic environments requires attention to detail, long-term memory usage, and the ability to process information quickly, all of which can contribute to cognitive improvements.
Additionally, RPG video games often involve puzzles and quests that necessitate strategic planning and problem-solving, skills directly transferable to real-world scenarios. This blend of critical thinking, quick decision-making, and adaptive learning makes RPG video games a powerful tool for boosting mental agility and cognitive health.
3. Playing a Musical Instrument
Musical instrument learning has been shown to significantly improve cognitive function, including memory retention and spatial reasoning.
One study showed that 75 minutes of music lessons for 12 weeks significantly improved IQ scores in preschool children. Another study found a positive relationship between musical training and improved IQ and executive function.
Since we know memory's important role in intelligence tests, taking up a musical instrument may not be such a bad idea, even if it's just for fun! You'll not only learn a new skill and enhance your cognitive processes, but you could also increase your chances of "passing" the IQ test with a higher score.
4. Meditation
Meditation provides numerous benefits for our physical and mental health. These benefits include increased focus, better memory, and reduced stress and anxiety.
When it comes to things you can do to boost your average IQ, meditation ranks high on the list.
One study compared people who practiced brief meditation training to an active control group. They found that the meditation training had significantly improved working memory, visual-spatial processing, and executive functioning, all areas connected to IQ.
The University of Wisconsin also found that meditation synchronizes both hemispheres of the human brain. The epic whole-brain synchronization allows for deeper thinking, faster problem-solving abilities, and enhanced attention, leading to increased IQ.
The good news is that you don't have to meditate for hours to attain a high IQ! A consistent 20-minute daily routine is enough to give you a significant boost.
Learn more:
5. Practice Executive Functioning Activities
Executive functions refer to mental processes that enable you to plan, maintain focus and self-control, manage complex tasks, and solve unexpected challenges. Since these broad elements of intelligence are connected to IQ, incorporating executive function-boosting exercises can help you attain a higher IQ.
Here is a list of example activities (some of which we have already discussed) that can help enhance these cognitive abilities:
- Time Management Exercises: Utilize planners and digital tools to schedule your day and prioritize tasks. Practice setting specific, measurable goals for short-term and long-term projects to improve planning and prioritization skills.
- Task Switching Challenges: Engage in activities that require you to switch between different tasks quickly, such as alternating between different types of work or puzzles. This practice can help improve your mental flexibility and control. Ensure you are doing this in a controlled manner to avoid the negative consequences of multitasking.
- Memory Building Games: Try games and apps designed to enhance working memory, such as word games like Scrabble, word puzzles, and card games that require tracking progress or complex strategy games that involve remembering a variety of factors and outcomes.
- Mindfulness and Meditation: As we mentioned earlier, regular practice of mindfulness exercises can improve your focus and self-control. Meditation enhances the ability to maintain attention and resist distractions.
- Problem-Solving Activities: Regularly engage in activities that require critical thinking, such as solving complex mathematical problems, strategy-based video games, brain teasers, and riddles, or even escape rooms that challenge you to work under pressure.
- Decision-Making Exercises: Practice making decisions quickly and assessing their outcomes. You could do this through simulation games, sports strategies, or even by role-playing different scenarios in a controlled environment.
Each of these activities targets different aspects of executive functioning and can be practiced regularly to help improve cognitive skills associated with a higher IQ.
Apart from the list above, improving your internal self-regulation mechanism is one of the best high IQ traits you can learn. Self-control allows you to depend on facts and utilize practical decision-making skills to solve problems effectively. This is especially true if impulsivity is your go-to strategy for stressful situations.
6. Physical Exercise
Aerobic exercises like jogging, cycling, or swimming offer diverse benefits for your IQ beyond just reducing stress. A regular physical routine boosts brain health and energy levels and allows for increased cardiovascular fitness.
A Swedish study connected cardiovascular fitness to increased intelligence and better cognitive functioning. They also discovered that it could increase verbal intelligence by up to 50%.
Recent research further reveals that aerobic exercises stimulate the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This protein plays a crucial role in neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to adapt and grow new neural connections. Increased levels of BDNF can enhance memory, learning, and cognitive processing speed, providing a biological basis for the improvements in intelligence and verbal skills observed in fitness studies.
Moreover, regular aerobic activity has been shown to increase the volume of key brain regions involved in executive function and memory, such as the hippocampus, further solidifying the link between physical fitness and mental acuity.
If you want to increase your IQ, intense physical exercise may be the missing piece in your pursuit of higher intelligence.
7. Read More Books
We know that individuals with IQ levels are often avid readers, and for good reason. Reading consistently and extensively expands your knowledge and improves your vocabulary.
Reading further improves different aspects of cognitive function like memory, concentration, reasoning, and judgment. A reading culture profoundly affects brain development if picked up in young adulthood. Still, adults can also significantly boost their IQ levels over time by just spending 30 minutes a day reading a book.
8. Start a New Hobby
Picking up a new hobby isn't just a way to pass the time—it can significantly boost your intelligence, enhance your IQ, and even help stave off cognitive decline. Learning and engaging in a new activity stimulates the brain, creating new neural pathways and increasing neural plasticity, essential for cognitive health.
As you master new skills and face novel challenges, your brain adapts and evolves, improving overall functionality.
Creative hobbies like painting, writing, or playing a musical instrument are not only fulfilling but also profoundly beneficial for the brain. Engaging in creative hobbies enhances divergent thinking, a key component in problem-solving and creativity. Research suggests that these activities can improve cognitive function by fostering new ways of thinking and problem-solving abilities, which can translate to an increased IQ.
Physical hobbies such as gardening, dancing, or sports engage the body and the mind simultaneously. Regular physical activity increases the flow of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the brain, which is crucial for maintaining cognitive health. Moreover, a study from the University of Georgia found that regular exercise can help improve memory recall and executive functions, which are vital for learning and intelligence.
Relaxing hobbies that promote relaxation, such as yoga, knitting, or even bird-watching, can reduce stress, which in turn benefits brain function. Chronic stress is known to impair cognitive abilities and can contribute to cognitive decline. Relaxing hobbies help maintain cognitive function by alleviating stress and promoting a mental state conducive to creative and critical thinking.
By incorporating new hobbies into your life, you enrich your day-to-day experiences and foster an environment where your cognitive abilities can thrive. Whether through creative expression, physical engagement, or relaxation, hobbies offer a fun and effective way to enhance mental agility and maintain cognitive health as we age.
9. Learn a New Language
Learning a new language improves cognitive skills, including memory, attention, listening, and problem-solving skills.
However, research shows that new language skills may be more beneficial to adult IQ levels if undertaken right from early childhood. As an adult, this may not be the most "efficient" way to score the extra IQ points you want.
But hold on...
The process of learning a new language offers significant cognitive advantages that extend beyond mere numbers. Engaging with a new language enhances mental flexibility, forcing the brain to navigate different linguistic structures and cultural concepts, which can greatly improve overall cognitive agility and adaptability.
Furthermore, bilingualism has been linked to better executive functioning, improved task-switching capabilities, and enhanced resistance to cognitive decline and dementia.
Thus, while the immediate impact on IQ scores might be modest, the long-term benefits to cognitive health and functionality are substantial and well worth the investment.
10. Pursue Continued Education
We all rely on education to increase our intelligence. By continuing your formal education, whether that's an extra graduate degree or taking online courses at home, you are on the right path to increasing your IQ.
So, can education improve intelligence? Well, yes. These researchers conducted a review of studies on education and IQ. The meta-analysis revealed that a person gains one to five IQ points every year of formal education.
11. Enhance Cognitive Relational Skills
Developing your ability to understand and apply complex relationships between different concepts can significantly enhance cognitive flexibility and intelligence. Relational Frame Theory, a psychological approach to understanding language and cognition, suggests mastering these skills is key to improving mental agility. For children, exercises that involve comparing objects and their attributes—like distinguishing between a full cup and an empty cup or understanding the value differences between a penny and a dime—can sharpen these cognitive abilities.
For adults, actively improving relational skills can be beneficial, too. This could involve engaging in activities that require complex relational thinking, such as learning a new language, which demands understanding subtle linguistic relationships or participating in advanced mathematics or logic puzzles that challenge you to identify patterns and relationships.
Additionally, engaging in discussions requiring you to analyze and articulate relationships between abstract ideas, such as in philosophy or high-level strategic thinking games, can also sharpen these cognitive skills. Such activities not only boost your ability to process complex information but also enhance your problem-solving capabilities, contributing to higher IQ scores.
12. Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
Finally, we can't overlook the importance of a healthy lifestyle and its long-term effect on one's IQ. Eating a balanced diet, rich in nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins, directly supports brain health by enhancing memory and cognitive speed and helping to reduce stress (which negatively impacts IQ). Regular physical exercise increases blood flow to the brain and releases chemicals that promote neural health.
Furthermore, sufficient sleep is crucial for cognitive processes, as it helps consolidate memories and clear brain toxins that accumulate throughout the day. Conversely, the lack of adequate sleep can impair reasoning, problem-solving abilities, and the capacity to focus—all of which can negatively impact the results of IQ tests.
Additionally, avoiding harmful substances such as excessive alcohol and tobacco is vital; these substances can damage brain cells and neurochemical processes, leading to cognitive deficits and lowered IQ scores over time. Together, these lifestyle choices create a foundation for better health and enhanced mental acuity, illustrating how daily habits are closely tied to cognitive performance.
See, You Can Increase Your IQ (and Intelligence!)
Having a high intelligence quotient is not enough. Like a muscle, if you don't take care of your cognitive abilities, they can dwindle with time, and you must inevitably deal with the age-related cognitive decline factor.
The good news is that you can delay the process by adopting as many of the cognitive training tips we've explored above to keep your cognitive health and IQ score the best possible.
But remember, IQ is not the only factor important for success!
