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Worrying may have co-evolved with intelligence, according to a recent study.

It was found that high intelligence and worry both correlate with brain activity measured by the depletion of the nutrient choline in theGlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, Sackler Institute of Columbia University, NIH/National Institute of Mental Health, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, Psychiatric Institute subcortical white matter of the brain by Jeremy Coplan, MD, professor of psychiatry at SUNY Downstate Medical Center and colleagues. They say that this suggests that intelligence may have evolved along with worry.

"While excessive worry is generally seen as a negative trait and high intelligence as a positive one, worry may cause our species to avoid dangerous situations, regardless of how remote a possibility they may be," said Coplan. "In essence, worry may make people 'take no chances,' and such people may have higher survival rates. Thus, like intelligence, worry may confer a benefit upon the species."

In this study, researchers campared patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) with healthy volunteers to measure the relationship among intelligence quotient (IQ), worry, and subcortical white matter metabolism of choline. Eighteen healthy volunteers (8 males and 10 females) and 26 patients with GAD (12 males and 14 females) participated as subjects.

In a control group, high IQ was associated with a lower degree of worry, but in the GAD group, high IQ was associated with a greater degree of worry. The correlation between IQ and worry was significant in both groups. However, in the former, the correlation was positive and in the latter, the correlation was negative. 

Previous studies have demonstrated that excessive worry tends to exist both in people with higher intelligence and lower intelligence, and less so in people of moderate intelligence. It has been hypothesized that people with lower intelligence have more anxiety because they achieve less success in life.

The results of the study "The Relationship between Intelligence and Anxiety: An Association with Subcortical White Matter Metabolism," was published in a recent edition of Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience.

The study was selected and evaluated by a member of the Faculty of 1000 (F1000), placing it in their library of the top 2% of published articles in biology and medicine.