It may not be rocket science, but researchers have found aerospace engineers and brain surgeons are not necessarily brighter than the general population. The tasks examined various aspects of cognition, including planning and reasoning, working memory, attention, and emotion processing abilities. The researchers then compared the results against those previously gathered from more than 18,000 members of the British public. The findings, which were published in the festive edition of the BMJ, reveal that only neurosurgeons showed a significant difference, with quicker problem-solving speed but slower memory recall compared with the general population. “It is also possible that other professions might deserve to be on that pedestal, and future work should aim to determine the most deserving group,” they said.

Source: The Guardian December 14, 2021 03:47 UTC