How many times have you watched a baby incoherently babble, then show an interest in something, only to hear the love-struck adults around them saying, “Oh yes, you’re so clever!”

Well believe it or not, they might actually be onto something.

That’s according to new research published in the journal PNAS, in which a team from the University of Colorado Boulder detail their findings from a forty-year study of twins from the state.

And the results of the study seem quite clear: the cognitive ability of a baby at seven months can quite accurately predict the cognitive ability of the thirty-year-old adult that baby will become.

By studying 1,098 twins from Colorado throughout the first forty years of their lives, the research team have collected incremental data to correlate their cognitive abilities throughout their lives, with samples and data collected via age-appropriate lab samples, home visits, interviews, surveys, and tests.

And though the findings from the age of seven months were not complete predictors, Daniel Gustavson explained in a statement that the tests could provide some prediction as to the scores that the adults would obtain, thirty years later:

“Our findings highlight the enduring consequences of the very early childhood environment on cognitive ability and suggest that early life is a critical developmental period that we should be paying attention to. We certainly do not want to imply that cognition is somehow fixed by seven months old, but the idea that a very simple test in infancy can help predict the results of a very complicated cognitive test taken 30 years later is exciting.”

This result led to the age-old question of whether cognitive ability is dictated through nature or nurture – and thanks to the easy comparison between identical and fraternal twins (who share 100% and 50% of their DNA respectively), the researchers were able to obtain ground-breaking answers to that very question.

Overall, the researchers fond that while genetics played a big part in cognitive ability, there was a significant influence dictated by the ‘nurture’ aspect – or the environment in which the children were raised and educated – too, making an argument for the importance of both aspects, as Gustavson continued:

“One of the most exciting findings was that 10% of the variability in adult cognitive ability was explained by environmental influences before year one or two. This suggests that even the pre-preschool environment matters.”

However, as the study continues, perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects that researchers hope to reveal is the impact of these factors on the aging process, with specific focus on age-related cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia, as Chandra Reynolds continued in the statement:

“Cognitive aging is a life-long process, not just something that begins in mid-life. It could be that certain interventions, like strong educational foundations in early life could help maximize what people are capable of and help them keep that cognitive gas in the tank for as long as possible.”

Thanks to 1,098 Colorado twins – and the numerous researchers who work on the project through its duration – one day we will have answers to all of this and more.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a quantum computer simulation that has “reversed time” and physics may never be the same.