Key takeaways: Measured IQ scores can shift somewhat through practice, education, and certain lifestyle factors, particularly earlier in life — but the research on whether this reflects a genuine, lasting increase in underlying reasoning ability versus a narrower improvement in test-taking familiarity is more mixed and complicated than popular “brain training” marketing usually suggests.
Two Different Questions Hiding in One
“Can you increase your IQ” is really two separate questions people often conflate: can your measured score on a test go up, and does that increase reflect a genuine, generalizable improvement in your underlying reasoning ability. The first question has a fairly clear answer — yes, scores can and do shift. The second is where the research gets more nuanced and, frankly, more contested.
What Reliably Raises a Measured Score
A few factors have fairly solid research support for improving performance on a subsequent IQ test:
Familiarity with the specific test format. This is one of the most well-established findings in the field — people who retake a similar test, or a test with a comparable format, typically score somewhat higher the second time, simply from reduced unfamiliarity friction. This is sometimes called a “practice effect,” and it’s a genuine, measurable phenomenon, though it’s debatable whether it reflects improved general reasoning or just improved test-taking specifically.
Education, particularly in earlier developmental years. Longer, more consistent formal education is associated with modestly higher average IQ scores in population-level research, and some researchers argue this reflects genuine cognitive development driven by sustained engagement with reasoning-heavy academic content, particularly during childhood and adolescence when cognitive development is still highly malleable.
Adequate sleep, nutrition, and general health. Cognitive performance, including performance on reasoning tests, is measurably impaired by poor sleep, certain nutritional deficiencies, and various health conditions. Addressing these factors when they’re genuinely lacking can improve test performance, though this is more accurately described as removing a performance-suppressing factor than as raising some fixed underlying ceiling.
Reduced test anxiety and stress. As covered in how to prepare for an IQ test, anxiety measurably interferes with working memory and processing speed during testing. Addressing anxiety can produce a more accurate — sometimes higher — result, again by removing an artificial performance suppressor rather than by increasing a fixed underlying trait.
What the Evidence Is More Mixed On
“Brain training” apps and games. This is a heavily marketed but scientifically contested area. Some studies show that practicing specific brain-training tasks improves performance on those specific tasks — which is expected and unsurprising — but the evidence for genuine “transfer” to broader, general reasoning ability (as opposed to just getting better at the specific trained tasks) is considerably weaker and more disputed among researchers than most commercial brain-training marketing suggests.
Working memory training specifically. Working memory is closely linked to fluid intelligence (see working memory and IQ for more), which has led to research interest in whether directly training working memory capacity could raise general reasoning ability. Results here have been mixed — some studies show modest transfer effects, others show gains limited mostly to the trained task itself, and the field hasn’t reached a clear consensus.
Nootropics and supplements. Popular claims about various supplements boosting IQ generally lack strong, consistent scientific support. Where genuine cognitive benefits exist for some substances in some contexts (for example, addressing an actual deficiency), they tend to be modest and don’t represent a reliable, generalizable way to meaningfully raise underlying reasoning ability for someone without that specific deficiency.
The Fluid vs. Crystallized Intelligence Distinction
Psychologists often distinguish between fluid intelligence (the capacity to reason and solve novel problems, largely independent of prior knowledge) and crystallized intelligence (accumulated knowledge and skills built up through experience and education). Crystallized intelligence quite clearly grows throughout life as you learn more — that’s essentially its definition. Fluid intelligence is generally considered more stable and more resistant to significant, generalized improvement in adulthood, which is a large part of why the “can you increase your IQ” question is more genuinely contested for fluid-reasoning components than it is for knowledge-based ones.
What This Means Practically
If your goal is to perform as well as possible on an upcoming reasoning test, legitimate preparation — building format familiarity, ensuring good sleep and reduced anxiety, practicing across multiple reasoning categories — can meaningfully and reliably improve your measured result. If your goal is a genuine, lasting increase in your underlying general reasoning capacity, the evidence for reliably achieving that through any specific method (brain training, supplements, or otherwise) is considerably weaker and more contested than commonly marketed, and claims promising dramatic, guaranteed IQ increases should be treated with real skepticism.
A Reasonable, Evidence-Aligned Approach
Rather than chasing a specific “IQ-boosting” product or method, the most evidence-supported general approach is straightforward and somewhat unglamorous: maintain good sleep and general health, stay engaged in intellectually varied activities and continued learning throughout life, and if you’re preparing for a specific test, use the legitimate preparation strategies covered in how to prepare for an IQ test. This won’t produce a dramatic, guaranteed jump, but it reflects what the actual evidence supports rather than what’s easiest to market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is IQ fixed for life, or can it change? Measured IQ can shift, particularly earlier in life and through practice effects, education, and removing performance-suppressing factors like poor sleep or anxiety. Whether these changes reflect a genuine, lasting shift in underlying fluid reasoning ability, especially in adulthood, is more scientifically contested.
Do brain training apps actually work? They reliably improve performance on the specific trained tasks. Evidence for meaningful transfer to broader, general reasoning ability is weaker and more disputed than commercial marketing for these apps typically suggests.
Can better sleep really raise my IQ test score? It can improve your measured performance by removing a real, well-documented performance suppressor (sleep deprivation impairs working memory and processing speed), though this is better understood as unlocking your existing ability rather than raising some fixed ceiling.
Does more education increase IQ? Population-level research associates longer, more consistent formal education with modestly higher average IQ scores, particularly when education occurs during childhood and adolescence.
Are there supplements that reliably increase IQ? No supplement has strong, consistent scientific support for reliably and meaningfully increasing general reasoning ability in people without a specific underlying deficiency. Be skeptical of dramatic claims in this area.