The FULL Guide to Increase IQ | School never taught you

This video examines what the largest body of research says actually raises IQ, concluding it's structured education rather than brain-training apps or supplements. It covers a meta-analysis spanning 142 effect sizes from 42 datasets involving over 600,000 participants, led by Stuart Ritchie of the University of Edinburgh, which found that each additional year of education raises IQ by roughly 1 to 5 points, with effects varying between 1.2 and 5.2 points depending on study design. The research found this benefit persists even in people tested in their 70s and 80s, though one study on older adults found education improved later-life cognitive capacity without improving fundamental processing speed. The video then addresses brain training games, citing a BBC study involving more than 8,600 participants who trained on memory and reasoning games compared to over 2,700 people who simply browsed the internet, finding no meaningful IQ advantage for the brain-training group after six weeks. It also covers a meta-analysis of 24 samples on dual n-back training, which found only a small effect on fluid intelligence, and explains that retaking an IQ test typically produces a practice-effect score bump rather than a genuine intelligence gain. The video closes by covering sleep's role in cognitive performance and references the Flynn effect, including how public health interventions like addressing iodine deficiency have been linked to population-level IQ gains. **Keywords** IQ research, education and intelligence, Stuart Ritchie, University of Edinburgh IQ study, brain training games, BBC brain training study, dual n-back training, fluid intelligence research, working memory training, Flynn effect, cognitive performance research, sleep and cognition, IQ practice effect, structured learning, cognitive ability research, intelligence meta-analysis, near transfer far transfer, iodine deficiency IQ, fixed intelligence myth, cognitive science research In this video, you'll learn what the largest research studies actually say raises IQ, why popular brain-training apps and dual n-back games show little to no real cognitive benefit, how sleep quality directly affects test performance, and why structured education remains the most consistent, long-lasting way to improve cognitive ability.