Functional MRI predicts intelligence

A new systematic review finds that measures of functional connectivity from fMRI can predict general intelligence with a correlation around r ≈ 0.42, while predictive performance for fluid intelligence is substantially lower. The finding is based on synthesized studies and highlights both methodological variance and a nontrivial predictive signal coming from brain imaging. — If brain scans can predict intelligence at modest levels, that raises immediate questions about uses in education, hiring, privacy, and whether brain‑based biomarkers should enter public policy and ethics debates.