Oldest, Smartest, Brightest The First Child

London : Now we know why parents lavish their attention on their eldest child and have all hopes pinned on them.

A recent study has found that the first-born child is likely to be smarter, more intelligent and have a higher IQ than his siblings.

Experts at the vrije University, Amsterdam conducted IQ tests of 650 children three times at the ages of 5, 12, and 18.

The study slated to be published in the journal Intelligence, found that children without any older sibling had the highest IQ scores, followed by those who had one older sibling. Those who had two or more older sibling scored the lowest.

The reason behind eldest offspring being the brightest was unclear, the author of the study Dorret Boomsma observed saying, the level of attention parents showered on their eldest child might boost their intellectual development.

The Amsterdam study is the latest in the line of researches that found birth order to have a fundamental effect on intelligence, personality and achievement, according to the Mail online.