Older men tend to have “geekier” sons who are more aloof, have higher IQs and a more intense focus on their interests than those born to younger fathers, researchers claim. 
 
 The finding, which emerged from a study of nearly 8,000 British twins, suggests that having an older father may benefit children and boost their performance in technical subjects at secondary school. 
 
 
 
 Researchers in the UK and the US analysed questionnaires from 7,781 British twins and scored them according to their non-verbal IQ at 12 years old, as well as parental reports on how focused and socially aloof they were. The scientists then combined these scores into an overall “geek index”. 
 
 
 
 Magdalena Janecka at King’s College London said the project came about after she and her colleagues had brainstormed what traits and skills helped people to succeed in the modern age. “If you look at who does well in life right now, it’s geeks,” she said. 
 
 
 
 Drawing on the twins’ records, the scientists found that children born to older fathers tended to score slightly higher on the geek index. For a father aged 25 or younger, the average score of the children was 39.6. That figure rose to 41 in children with fathers aged 35 to 44, and to 47 for those with fathers aged over 50. 
 
 
 
 The effect was strongest in boys, where the geek index rose by about 1.5 points for every extra five years of paternal age. The age of the children’s mothers seemed to have almost no effect on the geek index. 
 
 
 
 When the scientists looked at the children’s achievements at school they found that having a high IQ, a tendency to focus intensely and social aloofness were all linked to children taking more technical GCSEs. When children displayed all three traits, the effect was even more pronounced, the researchers write in the journal Translational Psychiatry. Overall, children who were born when their fathers were 50 or older were 32% more likely to achieve two A or A* grades at GCSE than children born to men aged under 25. 
 
 Janecka said the study is one of the first to suggest that having an older father can have benefits for a child. Previous work by Janecka and others has found that children born to older men are more at risk of medical conditions including autism and schizophrenia. 
 
 
 
 The scientists calculate that 57% of the geek index score is inherited, but that figure is likely to vary with age. If right, it suggests that DNA and the environment have roughly an equal share in how geeky someone turns out. Writing in the journal, the researchers speculate that there may be some overlap with genes that contribute to autism and a high score on their index. 
 
 
 
 The effect that a father’s age had on their child’s geek index remained when the researchers took into account the men’s qualifications, their job and socioeconomic status. “We have known for a while about the negative consequences of advanced paternal age, but now we have shown that these children may also go on to have better educational and career prospects,” Janecka said. She added that some of the genes that contribute to geekiness and academic success might also lead to a higher risk of autism when a child inherits more of them. “With a higher ‘dose’ of these genes, and when there are other contributing risk factors, they may end up with a higher predisposition to autism.” 
 
 The findings do not, however, make an unshakeable argument for delaying fatherhood. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg rank among the greatest geeks in the world but both of their fathers were about 30 when they had their sons. 
 
 If the findings are right, it is unclear why the effect is much stronger for boys than girls. Janecka said that the study may simply have failed to capture how girls display geekiness. “Maybe we aren’t measuring geekiness properly. They may be geeky in a different way to boys,” she said. But it is also possible that whatever averts autism in girls – five times as many males are diagnosed than females – also shields them from the most geeky traits. 
 
 Research is under way to recognise why older parents are more likely to have children with particular mental disorders. One theory pinpoints mutations that build up in parents’ sperm and eggs. But with geekiness, the answer could lie in geekier men simply being more likely to delay fatherhood. 
 
 “Certain men who delay fatherhood tend to be better educated and have better jobs and a higher geek index and they pass those genetics nto their offspring,” said Janecka. “It causes them to delay fatherhood, but other factors might contribute too.” ||||| Updated | Older fathers appear to have geekier sons, scientists have discovered. In a study of over 30,000 twins, researchers found boys who had older fathers scored higher on the “geek index”—and that the older the father, the higher the score. (The geek effect was only seen in boys.) 
 
 By the age of 12, boys with older fathers were found to be more intelligent, more focused on their interests and were less concerned about whether or not they fitted in with their peers. 
 
 While there has been much research showing the negative impact having children later in life can have—including increased risk of autism and schizophrenia—little has been done into the potential benefits. 
 
 The latest study, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry on Tuesday, indicates there are evolutionary advantages for men having children later in life. 
 
 Scientists from the U.K and the U.S. collected cognitive and behavioral data on 15,000 sets of twins. At the age of 12, they completed tests measuring their “geeky” traits, including their non-verbal IQ, their focus on subjects of interest and their social aloofness. Parents were asked how they were perceived by their peers and if they had interests that dominated their time. 
 
 From this, the researchers were able to produce a “geek index score” for each child in the study and to compare it to the age of the parents. 
 
 Their findings showed a correlation between the age of the father and the geekiness of the sons, with a positive correlation between the two—the older the father, the geekier the son. They also noticed geek traits appeared more after the age of 45. 
 
 Geeky boys did better in school exams, especially STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects, suggesting they would be more successful in their careers as adults. 
 
 The authors say there are several limitations to the study. They were not able to determine whether the geek effect extended beyond secondary education and future success, adding it “remains possible that personality traits associated with GI [geek index] cease to be advantageous in later life.” For example, being flexible and socially aware rather than focusing on a single goal may provide more benefits in the work environment in the long-term. 
 
 They also said they could not verify whether geek traits were associated with things like poor emotional and social functioning. 
 
 However, they said the findings show there may be some benefits associated with having an older father. 
 
 Study author Magdalena Janecka tells Newsweek: “Our primary hypothesis is that higher levels of those ‘geeky’ traits in offspring of older men are mainly due is due to characteristics of the fathers themselves. Men who decide to delay fatherhood often do so due to their extended career and educational pursuits, and likely themselves display higher levels of ‘geekiness.’” 
 
 Another implication of the study is the link between autism and higher paternal age. The scientists were not able to measure the link directly, but say that some of the genes relating to geekiness and autism overlap, and that these genes may be more prevalent in older fathers. 
 
 If a child is only born with some of these genes, it may help them succeed in school, but if they get a “higher dose,” they may be more at risk of autism. 
 
 This link could also explain why the geek effect was only seen in boys. “We think the reasons for this may be similar to those why females seem protected from autism in general,” Janecka says. “For some reason, there could be a selective passage of those traits from fathers to son, but biologically, we still do not know how this could work.” 
 
 She also says girls with older fathers may well be geeky too, just in different ways: “Another possibility is that we have not measured ‘geekiness’ in a way that allows to capture its manifestation in females—there remains a caveat that daughters of older men are just as geeky, but we could not capture it in the current study.” 
 
 The study, Janecka adds, does not mean men should put off having children until they are older in the hope of having more intelligent sons. “Those findings should definitely not be taken to guide individual decisions about parenthood,” she says. “Effects we are describing are visible in large samples, but may operate very differently in cases of individual families.” 
 
 Patrik Magnusson, from the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, has studied the link between parental age and autism risk. Commenting on the study, he tells Newsweek: “That geekiness is associated with school success is not strange at all, to be a geek is defined as being someone with skills that are very well suited for school. That geekiness is associated with having an old father is a little stranger.” 
 
 He says this link is likely down to several different factors, including geekiness being heritable. Another could be that men who get the chance to become fathers at a later age need to show “special positive skills.” 
 
 “This special skill may be genetic and transmitted to the offspring,” he says. “Also, fathers that wait with kids may predominantly be fathers that have spent time studying or spent time developing ideas or business in favour of a the more common family life. Such personality is likely genetically inherited.” 
 
 This story has been updated to include comments from Patrik Magnusson. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A stereotype of a geek, holding a cupcake 
 
 Men who delay starting a family are more likely to have "geekier" sons, a study suggests. 
 
 They were brighter, more focused and less bothered about fitting in - according to the "Geek Index" devised by King's College London. 
 
 The mother's age had no impact, and daughters seemed to be immune. 
 
 One scientist said a trend for delayed parenthood might mean we were heading towards a "society of geniuses" able to solve the world's problems. 
 
 The findings are rare good news in the science of delayed fatherhood. 
 
 Repeated studies have shown that older sperm is more prone to genetic errors and children are more likely to develop autism and schizophrenia. 
 
 The researchers looked at test results from 15,000 twins taking part in a huge study tracking their development. 
 
 The team then created the Geek Index by scoring the twins geeky traits, when they were 12, by looking at their: 
 
 non-verbal IQ 
 
 ability to focus on a subject 
 
 social aloofness 
 
 Those with a high geek score, unsurprisingly, went on to do better at school - particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 
 
 Possible explanations include: 
 
 Geekier dads could be taking longer to start a family and pass on geeky traits to their children 
 
 Older men have a home setting (due to stable, better paid jobs giving more access to education or experience from previous children) that encourages geeky traits 
 
 New mutations in sperm that affect development 
 
 Dr Magdalena Janecka, from King's College London, told the BBC News website: "Paternal age should not be the main focus when we're thinking about risk, individual families should not influence their decisions on parenthood based on these findings." 
 
 The gender differences are not fully explained. 
 
 It could be the measure of geekiness failed to spot differences in how it emerged in boys and girls, the scientists said. Or it could be down to differences in the way the brains of the boys and girls developed. 
 
 Prof Allan Pacey, from the University of Sheffield, said: "Whilst it may be chic to be a geek, I would not recommend that would-be parents delay their plans to start a family to specifically increase the odds of having a child with geek-like qualities. 
 
 "The dangers of older parenting are well described, such as an increased risk of infertility, miscarriage, or conceiving a child with a variety of debilitating disorders. 
 
 "However, I do find the idea of a 'geek gene' quite intriguing, and, given our recent trend to have our children later in life, perhaps we are destined for future society of geniuses that are going to help us solve all the world's problems." 
 
 The research team also believe some genetic traits being inherited from older fathers could be affecting both geekiness and autism. 
 
 Dr Janecka said: "When the child is born only with some of those genes, they may be more likely to succeed in school. 
 
 "However, with a higher 'dose' of these genes, and when there are other contributing risk factors, they may end up with a higher predisposition for autism." 
 
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– A new study suggests an upside for boys who have older dads: higher IQs. More specifically, they tend to score higher on what the researchers call the "geek index," reports the Guardian. And this is clearly seen as a positive: "If you look at who does well in life right now, it’s geeks," says Magdalena Janecka at King’s College London. The geek index, she explains, is determined by such factors as ability to focus, non-verbal IQ scores taken at age 12, and social aloofness. The latter trait may sound like a negative, but the BBC frames it as the boys not being overly concerned with fitting in. A mother's age appears to have no impact. The team studied more than 7,000 sets of twins in the UK. The average geek score for boys born to dads 25 or younger is 39. It goes up to 41 when dads had the child between 35 and 44, and jumps to 47 when dads were 50 or older. The impact was less pronounced on girls, and more pronounced when measuring science, tech, engineering, and math scores. Kids born to fathers 50 or older were 32% more likely to earn at least two A's on standardized tests than children born to men aged under 25, the researchers report in Translational Psychiatry. They calculate that 57% of the geek index score is inherited, with possible overlap between genes that contribute to a high geek score and to autism. “Our primary hypothesis is that higher levels of those ‘geeky’ traits in offspring of older men are mainly due is due to characteristics of the fathers themselves," Janecka tells Newsweek. "Men who decide to delay fatherhood often do so due to their extended career and educational pursuits, and likely themselves display higher levels of ‘geekiness.’” (Younger fathers are also likelier to die younger.)