Human lifespan is positively correlated with childhood intelligence, as measured by psychometric (IQ) tests. The\r\nstrength of this correlation is similar to the negative effect that smoking has on the life course. This result suggests\r\nthat people who perform well on psychometric tests in childhood may remain healthier and live longer. The\r\ncorrelation, however, is debated: is it caused exclusively by social-environmental factors or could it also have a\r\nbiological component? Biological traits of systems integrity that might result in correlations between brain function\r\nand lifespan have been suggested but are not well-established, and it is questioned what useful knowledge can\r\ncome from understanding such mechanisms. In a recent study, we found a positive correlation between brain\r\nfunction and longevity in honey bees. Honey bees are highly social, but relevant social-environmental factors that\r\ncontribute to cognition-survival correlations in humans are largely absent from insect colonies. Our results,\r\ntherefore, suggest a biological explanation for the correlation in the bee. Here, we argue that individual differences\r\nin stress handling (coping) mechanisms, which both affect the bees� performance in tests of brain function and\r\ntheir survival could be a trait of systems integrity. Individual differences in coping are much studied in vertebrates,\r\nand several species provide attractive models. Here, we discuss how pigs are an interesting model for studying\r\nbehavioural, physiological and molecular mechanisms that are recruited during stress and that can drive\r\ncorrelations between health, cognition and longevity traits. By revealing biological factors that make individuals\r\nsusceptible to stress, it might be possible to alleviate health and longevity disparities in people.
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