Physiological Factors Influencing Intelligence: The Role of Vitamin D3 and Magnesium in School Students

Abstract

Intelligence is increasingly recognized as a biologically influenced trait with a central role in shaping students' cognitive and academic development. This study aimed to investigate the association between vitamin D3 and magnesium levels and intelligence among school-aged students. A total of 90 male students from three types of schools (public, distinguished, and high-achieving) participated. The Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) test was used to assess mental age and IQ before any intervention, and both SPM and Advanced Progressive Matrices (APM) were administered before and after a 15-day nutritional intervention involving walnuts and dark chocolate. Vitamin D₃ and magnesium levels were also measured to assess physiological influences. Before the intervention, significant differences were observed between the three groups in both mental age and IQ. Post-intervention results showed a notable improvement in the public-school group, particularly in APM scores. The distinguished group showed improvement mainly in the SPM test, while the high-achievers group showed no significant changes. Vitamin D₃ levels differed significantly among the groups, with higher levels in public students than in distinguished and high-achieving school students. In contrast, magnesium levels showed a different pattern, with public students having significantly higher mean levels, followed by high-achieving students, while distinguished school students had the lowest. The findings indicate that biological factors may contribute to differences in cognitive performance among student groups. Moreover, the nutritional intervention appeared to positively affect intelligence in students with initially lower cognitive scores, especially in public schools.