Is it Possible to Increase Your IQ? 9 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power

As our world today is very complex, with even the simplest of jobs often requiring great cognitive abilities, having a high IQ is important. IQ is measured in many ways, usually with a so-called IQ test that examines various cognitive functions to see how well you perform.

Most people would say that your IQ is how smart you are, which may be partly true, although it really has more to do with your ability to find logical solutions. Today, we want to find out how your IQ is measured and how to increase your IQ. 

Key Takeaways

• IQ is a measure of how well you can solve problems and think logically, not a measure of how much you know.
• Although it was once thought that IQ was static, it is now known that it can be increased.
• Increasing IQ is possible through a variety of means, including reading books, learning instruments, learning new languages, exercising, and more.

What is IQ?

Most people probably know that IQ has something to do with your intelligence. Well, IQ stands for intelligence quotient, and this is a measure of your ability to reason. Specifically, your intelligence quotient examines your ability to process information, find solutions, or predict outcomes logically.

Essentially, your IQ is your ability to reason and deduct, not your knowledge of facts and past experiences. In other words, IQ really has nothing to do with what you know but rather how you come to conclusions in a logical manner. 

How is IQ Measured?

What needs to be said here is that IQ tests have gotten a fairly bad reputation recently for being very elitist and divisive. In many cases, it is said that these IQ tests favor privileged people, such as white males. 

However, in the most recent cases, IQ tests have been significantly altered to make them fair and equal for everybody.

One of the biggest issues with IQ tests until recently was that the going theory was that once you took an IQ test, that's it, and that's exactly how smart you are. It was assumed that it was not possible to increase your IQ, and this is what most IQ tests were based on.

However, with everything that we now know about neuroplasticity, it is thought to be possible to increase your overall IQ levels. Neuroplasticity refers to your brain’s ability to grow new neurons, to multiply existing neurons, and to make new neural connections.

IQ tests were invented in France to identify those students who needed additional academic support and were later adopted by the United States military as a form of recruitment tests. 

In today's world, we know that a good IQ test should be both culture and age-relevant, which means that an adult should never take a test designed for a child and vice versa. Furthermore, an African student should never take the same test as an Asian student. 

9 Ways to Increase Your IQ

Now that we know what IQ is and that it is indeed possible to improve it, let's take a look at some relatively easy ways to help improve yours.

Play Games

One great way to increase your overall IQ and neuroplasticity is to play challenging games, with chess being one of the best.

Chess is a very complex game that can improve strategic thinking skills, concentration, and problem-solving. It is also known to stimulate both the left and right hemispheres of your brain, which also helps strengthen the area that connects the two.

In fact, here is a piece of research that suggests a 41% increase in attention and an equal decrease in hyperactivity in children with ADHD when they play chess regularly. Playing chess forces you to think ahead, strategize, and make split-second decisions, which in turn serves to train your brain and make it more flexible.

Training your brain with mental exercises is really no different than training your muscles with physical exercises. The more you play games and perform activities that require you to think intensely, the more your neuroplasticity will benefit. 

Learn a New Language

Another great way, albeit not a simple one, to improve your IQ is to start learning a new language. Nobody says that you're perfect and that you'll be able to master a new language to the point of being fluent, but the simple process of learning is something that can help improve your IQ and your brain's neuroplasticity.

Learning a new language forces you to remember many different words, terms, and phrases. It also forces your brain to think in ways that it never had before, especially if you consider that some languages reverse the order of their words.

Learning a new language is difficult but also beneficial on this front. The study we linked to above shows that cortical thickness increases, as does the volume of your hippocampus, with the study of a new language.

Exercise

Although most people think that exercise is only good for physical health, it also plays a role in mental health and cognition, which may serve to increase your IQ levels.

There are various studies that suggest that light exercise can increase the volume of the hippocampus, which is directly involved in memory.

Furthermore, it is also shown that exercise can enhance various connections between the hippocampus and other areas of the brain that are crucial for both short-term and long-term memory.

There are pieces of research that suggest that regular exercise helps to improve overall reasoning abilities, problem-solving, abstract thinking, focus, and long-term memory, among other cognitive functions in people.

Meditate

Just like some people might be confused about how exercise helps with IQ, you might think that meditating couldn't benefit your IQ. 

However, some recent research suggest that meditating can change the structure of your brain, which in turn helps protect you from age-related cognitive decline.

Meditation changes the structure of your brain in such a way that it increases what is known as gyrification, and this helps to improve how fast your brain communicates. 

Research shows that the more people meditate, the more of this gyrification occurs. Meditation helps to increase cortical thickness and gray matter volume in the brain as well.

Learn to Play a Musical Instrument

In terms of increasing your IQ level, learning to play a musical instrument is about on par with learning a new language. Learning a new musical instrument forces your brain to think in ways that it's never had before.

Here is a study that suggests that playing a musical instrument greatly impacts intelligence in both children and adults. In fact, this study showed that regularly playing a new musical instrument, the learning process, resulted in a seven-point IQ increase.

Read

Simple reading is another good way to increase your IQ level. 

The reality is that reading is great for cognitive development. Some pieces of research show that when parents read books to their children, the children's cognitive development and language abilities both improved.

Reading forces you to constantly process new information to come to your own conclusions as you read, and it's just something that can help increase your overall neuroplasticity.

Keep Learning

Another great way to increase your IQ is to keep learning by returning to school. This research study showed that for each extra year of schooling a person underwent, their IQ increased by up to five points.

If you are taking part in higher education, you are constantly being challenged with new topics, themes, and problems. This is great for your brain's neuroplasticity because you constantly have to adapt, improvise, and find new ways to solve problems.

Do Brain-Enhancing Exercises

If you want to increase your IQ level, doing brain-enhancing exercises, such as memory exercises, can be beneficial.

For instance, crossword puzzles, concentration card games, card matching games, sudoku, and jigsaw puzzles are all great ways to increase your IQ.

Furthermore, various brain teasers, like Scrabble and Pictionary, are all other great exercises that can help improve neuroplasticity and your overall IQ.

Use Brain-Boosting Supplements

The final way to help increase your IQ, mental acuity, and cognitive function is by taking brain-boosting supplements. There are many different substances out there that are known to help improve cognitive function in one way or another. 

Some of these include alpha GPC, ashwagandha extract, Rhodiola Rosea, B vitamins, reishi, and lion’s mane. In their own ways, each of these ingredients is able to help increase memory, focus, concentration, energy levels, and cognitive function in general.

If you want to help nurture your brain naturally, then we recommend you try our TUNE IN drink.  This powdered drink contains all of those ingredients we just listed above, allowing you to reach the maximum possible cognitive benefits. 

TUNE IN is a very easy-to-take supplement because it comes in powder form that you just mix with water and drink, and the flavor is delicious! 

Final Thoughts

Although it was once thought that the IQ you are born with is the IQ that you will die with, this has since been proven false. 

It is indeed possible to improve your overall IQ levels through a variety of means, with exercise, regular brain stimulation, and supplementation being some of the best of all. Remember, things as simple as mushrooms can help improve your focus and energy!

Increasing IQ: FAQs

What Creates a High IQ?

In essence, creating a high IQ comes down to constantly challenging your brain and improving neuroplasticity.

Which Games Increase IQ?

A variety of memory games, problem-solving games, and spatial awareness games can all help increase IQ levels.

Can IQ be Increased?

Increasing IQ levels can be done through exercising your brain, reading books, playing instruments, learning new languages, and much more.

What is the Average IQ?

The average IQ for most people is between 85 and 115 points.