Are taller people smarter than shorter people? A new study from Edinburgh University's Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, found that people who are considered short might be a little intellectually challenged when it comes to taller people, the Daily Mail reports.
The study, which looked at 6,800 unrelated people and is the first to analyze DNA markers in such a way, found a link between height and IQ and said there was a "significant genetic correlation" between them.
Riccardo Marioni, a researcher at Edinburgh, said even though the link is small it is still very important.
"We tested whether DNA-based genetic similarities among people related to their similarities in height and intelligence," he said. "Previous studies have used twin or family data to examine similarities between height and intelligence, whereas ours was the first to examine this using actual DNA markers in unrelated people."
"What we found was a small association between height and intelligence such that people who are taller tend to be smarter," Marioni added.
According to the Daily Mail, Marioni teamed up with academics and researchers from Aberdeen University and University College London and based their information from the studies they completed between 2006 and 2011. They measured a person's IQ based on their reaction times, their ability to recall information and their linguistic ability.
The team of researchers submitted a paper to the Behavior Genetics Journal explaining that only 70 percent of the link between height and IQ was due to genetics and the rest was due to environmental influences.
"We found a moderate and statistically significant genetic correlation between height and general intelligence," the researchers said.
This is definitely not the first time a study of this type has been done. According to Scotsman.com, a 2006 study at Princeton University found that as early as age three, taller children performed better in mental tests than shorter children.
Research conducted last year at the University of Colorado found that smarter people were more likely to pick taller people as partners and vice versa. Another study at St. Andrews and Stirling University believe that women who are "vertically challenged" tend to focus more on starting a family than on their careers.
This study might appear daunting to shorter people but there have been studies suggesting that people considered short tend to live longer than their taller counterparts. One reason is due to the hearts ability to more efficiently pump blood throughout the entire body.
What do you think of the study?
