Myopia is often smarter

People with nearsightedness will have a higher rate of better education and therefore smarter. This connection was discovered when scientists investigated the reason why the prevalence of nearsightedness appeared more and more throughout Europe.

Myopia has become a common disease worldwide in recent years. In the US, it affects more than 40% of the population. In the UK, this number ranges from 20-30%. Meanwhile, in Asian countries, myopia rate has reached 80% with rapid growth.

Myopia is a refractive error that causes visual dysfunction, because the eyeball is long, instead of the light beam converging at the right retina, it converges in front of the retina so that children with nearsightedness can see only get things close to your eyes without seeing distant objects clearly.

In the UK, myopia has increased from 18% in the group born between 1910-1939 to more than 50% in those born from the 40s onwards.

Picture 1 of Myopia is often smarter
The rate of children with myopia is now increasing.(Photo source: ibtimes).

This has led scientists to question whether environmental factors play an important role in this regard or that education and intelligence make the near-high rate high.

Some researchers say that myopia is primarily genetic but others blame the modern lifestyle that causes it. In this new study, scientists gave 3,452 volunteers to conduct eye exams and intelligence tests as well as other factors such as age and years of schooling.

"The results show that people with nearsightedness have higher cognitive ability and educational level than normal people. Besides, intelligence index also increases in proportion to myopia level." , according to Alireza Mirshahi, the scientist who led the study.

As a result, 24% of myopia are those who do not attend high school or do not go through any training. About 35% of nearsighted people are graduates of high schools and graduates of vocational schools. In particular, the proportion of nearsighted college graduates accounted for more than half (53%).

Picture 2 of Myopia is often smarter
People with nearsightedness have higher cognitive ability and educational level than normal people.

The researchers also looked at the effects of 45 markers, but it also did not affect the level of strong nearsightedness with education. Alireza is the leading expert in the department of the University of Mainz in Germany. She discovered that the most important and closely linked element to intelligence is the number of years of schooling .

"The cognitive ability is partially inherited. The rest is strengthened and enhanced by education. So it is closely related to nearsightedness , " Alireza said.

Working too much on a computer screen in the present era is the main cause of eye damage. Besides, the younger generation tends to stay indoors rather than spending time outdoors. Therefore, the eyes will not have proper growth and adaptation.