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the exam you’re studying for.
    Drugs meant to improve or enhance mental function are classed as Nootropics, aka “smart drugs.” Most of these are relatively new and affect only specific processes such as memory or attention, so their long-term effects on general intelligence are currently anyone’s guess. The more powerful ones are restricted largely to use in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, where the brain is genuinely degrading at an alarming rate.
    There is also a wide variety of foods (for instance, fish oils) that are supposed to increase general intelligence, too, but this is also dubious. They may facilitate one aspect of the brain in one minor way, but this isn’t enough for a permanent and widespread boost of intelligence.
    There are even technological methods being touted these days, particularly with a technique known as transcranial direct-current stimulation (tCDS). A review by Djamila Bennabi and her colleagues in 2014 found that tCDS (where a low-level current is passed through targeted brain regions) does seemingly enhance abilities such as memory and language in both healthy and mentally ill subjects, and seems to have few to no side-effects thus far. Other reviews and studieshave yet to establish a viable effect of the method though. Clearly, there’s a lot of work to be done before this sort of thing becomes widely available therapeutically. 11
    Despite this, many companies currently sell gadgets that claim to exploit tCDS for improving performance on things like video games. To avoid libeling anyone, I’m not saying these things don’t work, but if they do, that means companies are selling items that actively alter brain activity (as powerful drugs do) via means that aren’t scientifically established or understood, to people without any specialist training or supervision. This is a bit like selling antidepressants at the supermarket, next to the chocolate bars and packs of batteries.
    So, yes, you can increase your intelligence, but it takes a lot of time and effort over prolonged periods, and you can’t just do things you’re already good at and/or know. If you get really good at something then your brain becomes so efficient at it, it essentially stops realizing it’s happening. And if it doesn’t know it’s happening, it won’t adapt or respond to it, so you get a self-limiting effect.
    The main problem seems to be that, if you want to be more intelligent, you have to be very determined or very smart in order to outsmart your own brain.

    You’re pretty smart for a small person
    (Why tall people are smarter and the heritability of intelligence)
    Tall people are smarter than shorter people. It’s true. This is a fact that many find surprising, even offensive (if they’re short). Surely, it’sridiculous to say that someone’s height is related to their intelligence? Apparently, it isn’t.
    Before I get besieged by an enraged but diminutive mob, it’s important to point out that this is not an absolute by any means. Basketball players are not automatically more intelligent than jockeys. André the Giant was not smarter than Einstein. Marie Curie would not have been outwitted by Hagrid. The correlation between height and intelligence is usually cited as being about 0.2, meaning height and intelligence seem to be associated in only 1 in 5 people.
    Plus, it doesn’t make a big difference. Take a random tall person and a random short person and measure their IQs; it’s anyone’s guess as to who’ll be the more intelligent. But you do this often enough, say with 10,000 tall people and 10,000 short people, and the overall pattern will be that the average IQ score of taller people will be slightly higher than that of the shorter people. Might be just 3–4 IQ points’ difference, but it’s still a pattern, one persistent across numerous studies into the phenomenon. 12