Intelligence

[Moses]

Not sure why this would contribute to pois, but based on the discussions on this forum, I feel people with pois have above intelligence.

[Nas]

Not sure why this would contribute to pois, but based on the discussions on this forum, I feel people with pois have above intelligence.

Nah I'm dumb as bricks bruh.

[demografx]

Not true, Nas, you’re off the charts!

[Muon]

Not sure why this would contribute to pois, but based on the discussions on this forum, I feel people with pois have above intelligence.

This is my observation as well.

[Scary sheep]

I think this is very difficult to gauge, given many users here appear to be speaking English as a second language and people tend to come here more often when they're suffering. I'm not sure measuring general intelligence is a very helpful avenue to explore unless we are trying to quantify the brain fog an individual experiences and if that has any effect on apparent intelligence in and out of POIS. I would say that all the internet research I'm sure we all do when we enter a POIS episode on various medical subjects does make us more informed about these things than the general population, but I think it also comes at the risk of our desperation for answers clouding the necessary skepticism we should all have about what we find online. Case in point being the tendency of users here to gravitate toward alternative, unscientific solutions, like homeopathic treatments, unproven herbal remedies, and anti-science positions, like fear-mongering over vaccines. Overall, I'd say, like everything else we've determined thus far, the intelligence distribution here is disappointingly average and doesn't offer any clues as to who this condition affects.

[Muon]

According to Waldinger's 2011 study (part 1) which you can find here:

Education

N (%)

UNI		14 (31)
HVE/HTE		10 (22)
SSE/HGSE		5 (11)
GSE/MAEE		3 (7)
SVE/STE		6 (13)
LTS/ES		7 (16)

UNI = university; HVE = higher vocational education; HTE = higher technical education; SSE = secondary science education; HGSE = higher general secondary education; GSE = general secondary education; MAEE = more advanced elementary education; SVE = secondary vocational education; STE = secondary technical education; LTS = lower technical school; ES = elementary school.

POIS could contain more intelligent people compared to a normal distribution of healthy people.
Or poisers with high intelligence are more likely to recognize their symptoms and able to end up at the proper specialist while the distribution is just the same as in a healthy population.
Or people with higher educational backgrounds are perhaps more driven and don't know their limits that well and perhaps being more exposed to stress (as in academic stress.) You will end up with more intelligent people but you should look at the stress burden distribution.

[Nas]

I wouldn't describe my self having "academic burden". I might have had some stress in my middle school years dealing with school drama but I don't know. I did however start developing pure OCD and social anxiety but I don't know if that was caused by POIS or it was causing my POIS.
There is also a simpler explanation that more social isolation leads to developing niches. I personally had plenty of alone time which went towards watching YT and reading random stuff online.
Infact I wouldn't say I am cognitively intelligent; I have bad memory and bad focus.

[Muon]

You don't count Nas, you got too much OCD

[Nas]

You don't count Nas, you got too much OCD

Wait someone with OCD should count a lot!!
It should be: You don't count Nas, You got too much pure OCD
Which makes you anxious and can't count

[Muon]

Perhaps it got to do with circulatory issues. Academics may be less physically active. Could this have consequences for blood supply to the vagus nerve?

[IronFeather]

This is very interesting, I'd never thought of this... So maybe people with POIS have an above average intelligence? As this is all anonymous here, I suppose I don't risk coming off as arrogant, so I'll say it: I have an off-the-charts IQ (above 170), and my POIS seems to be one of the worst I've ever heard about, so, maybe this is connected somehow? Muon suggested mast cell activation in the hypothalamus as a possible explanation for the fever episodes, so, I don't know, it seems that the brain is involved. Just throwing ideas out there, this surprised me.

[an-y-more]

Honestly I don't think POIS can be somehow related to IQ. As was mentioned above it's probably our education and awareness what gatehred us all here. There can be more poisers suffering ( I mean, look at these nofap communities over there for example) not knowing what's going on. And do you remember how much it took to figure out what's wrong with you? I think some can be way too mental and cognitive injuried to realise, some can be misdiagnosed, others can be living in tribe in desert and ain't know a thing about medicine etc etc..

[Muon]

I have an off-the-charts IQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiMHTK15Pik

I've seen a paper which showed a correlation between BDNF serum level and IQ, by chance, when I were looking into BDNF papers. Of course nowhere to be found when you are looking for it.

"When tested between ejaculations, he was found not to have these conditions and to have an IQ of 150."
Bassett, J., & Goldmeier, D. (2020)

Anyway a researcher in the field of brain & intelligence could take a look at POIS patients. There could be something to it.

[Muon]

Neural hyperactivity?

[Journey]

Neural hyperactivity?

My mind has always been very active and able to think of things from many different perspectives and come up with many ideas and I often feel like I think more than most people on the average as if my mind and nervous system is more overactive.

[BoneBroth]

This is very interesting, I'd never thought of this... So maybe people with POIS have an above average intelligence? As this is all anonymous here, I suppose I don't risk coming off as arrogant, so I'll say it: I have an off-the-charts IQ (above 170), and my POIS seems to be one of the worst I've ever heard about, so, maybe this is connected somehow? Muon suggested mast cell activation in the hypothalamus as a possible explanation for the fever episodes, so, I don't know, it seems that the brain is involved. Just throwing ideas out there, this surprised me.

Well usually intelligence originates from a hughe amout of hours spent in front of the computer, classes or books and that means inactivity and that is messing with the sleep and hormonal balances.

[Clues]

Well usually intelligence originates from a hughe amout of hours spent [...]

Citation needed.

If high IQ is overrepresented on the forum, it seems just as likely that only a small proportion of POIS sufferers around the globe find their way to the forum, and that more intelligent sufferers have a higher tendency to do so.

[berlin1984]

I'm above average IQ (So above 100  ) but living under my potential because I also burn out quite easily during the day :-( And I feel this might be related to the POIS too, something about acetylcholine,detoxing,oxidants,methylation,whoknows..

I think POIS is related to acetylcholine which is related to introversion.
But I don't know how/if that relates to IQ.

I agree that we can't conclude only from this poll that introverts are more likely to have POIS..

BUT.. if there is a likelihood for some kind of POIS to be more likely for introverts (subgroup), maybe it's related to acetylcholine.
https://www.google.com/search?q=acetylcholine+introversion

^ those Google hits claim introverts brain is more based on acetylcholine than on dopamine.. (simplified terms..)

In some other thread it was written that there is a lot of engineer/nerd type people on this forum.

[Bob Morane]

I usually do not mention this but since the question is asked and we are all anonymous here...  I am an active member of Mensa Society with an IQ of 156.

Probably around 80 during POIS ;-)

So yes above average. Not sure it has anything to do with it but people in this forum in general appear to be way above average. Some powerful thoughts from great minds have been expressed here.

This is one of the best interactive citizen based research health group I have seen.

Congratulations!

This being said - I think men from all intelligence levels suffer from this. But the most intellectually active ones are looking for solutions and end up here in this group.

[demografx]

This is one of the best interactive citizen based research health group I have seen.

Congratulations!

Thanks for your Great Compliment to this
Great Group!