You have your Mum to thank for your intelligence - Report

According to new research featured in Psychology Spot and reported by Good Housekeeping, the age-old saying about getting your intelligence from your mother turns out to be true.

The report says, babies are born with conditioned genes that work differently depending on whether they’re from your mum or your dad. And when it comes to intelligence, well it seems you get them directly from your mama.

People used to believe cleverness (or lack of) were from your mother and your father, but actually that’s not the case. Allow us to explain the science bit, for anyone who switched off during biology, or who listened but didn’t get it anyway (blame your mother!) You see, intelligence genes are located in the X chromosome and since women carry two, that means children are twice as likely to get their intelligence from their mum.

And even some of your dad’s clever genes do sneak into yours, they likely won’t have any impact on your brain because they only work if they come from your mum.

“If that same gene is inherited from the father, it is deactivated,” reports the study. “Obviously, other genes work the opposite, are activated only if they come from the father.”

Still not convinced you and your mum are an intelligence match? The Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in the United States did a study on mothers back in 1994 and interviewed 12,686 young people between the ages of 14 and 22. Their questions focused on the children’s IQ, race, education and socioeconomic status. The best predictor of intelligence? The IQ of their mother.

So next time you flunk an exam or drop a did-you-really-say-that? dumb comment, it’s totally acceptable to blame your mum. Science says it’s all her fault.

Do you agree you got your intelligence from your mother? Drop your answers in the comment section or tweet at us @d_duketee