Intellectual Quotient (IQ) is a score that is obtained through a test designed to measure or assess intelligence, that is, an individual's cognitive development. Obviously this is not an absolute indicator of intelligence, but a high IQ is linked to many genius minds. That of an average individual is between 85 and 115; a score above 130 indicates exceptional intelligence, and above 160 points there is a high probability of being a genius.

The late Stephen Hawking, for example, had an IQ of 160, the same as Albert Einstein. This little girl who at only 9 years old is attending college, on the other hand, has an IQ of 162. However, the person with the highest IQ ever recorded is Marilyn Vos Savant, with 228. The daughter of an Italian-German immigrant, Vos Savant was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1946.

Her advanced cognitive abilities were evident from a young age, and by the time she was only 10 years old she was already showing intelligence levels comparable to those of an adult.

The woman decided to show her impressive intelligence to the Guinness World Records committee in the 1980s using two tests: the Stanford-Binet test and the Mega test, achieving the record and remaining in the annals, forever. Guinness World Records, in fact, decided to discontinue the category in 1990, saying that IQ tests were too unreliable to warrant a single record holder.

Marilyn is a U.S. columnist and essayist and has been writing in Parade magazine since 1986, where she answers readers' questions on a variety of topics and solves logic-mathematical puzzles; Vos Savant has solved many problems, such as Monty Hall's, and enjoys creating puzzles.