How does your brain process language, numbers, and music? What makes some people naturally gifted in writing, mathematics, or musical composition?
In his book Frames of Mind, Howard Gardner identifies three distinct conceptual intelligences that shape how we learn and interact with abstract ideas. Linguistic, logical-mathematical, and musical intelligences each follow unique developmental patterns and are associated with different areas of the brain.
Read more to explore these fascinating mental capabilities and discover how they manifest in both everyday skills and extraordinary genius.
The Conceptual Intelligences
Gardner discusses three types of intelligence that help you learn and apply conceptual knowledge (as opposed to helping you interact with tangible objects or other people). These three conceptual intelligences are linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, and musical intelligence.
#1: Linguistic Intelligence
The first intelligence that Gardner discusses is linguistic intelligence. Its core function is enabling you to understand the meanings behind words and to use language to convey your own ideas. Linguistic information is encoded in letters and words, which can be either spoken or written.
Skilled writers epitomize this type of intelligence, and particularly impressive writers such as William Shakespeare can be considered linguistic geniuses. Their work doesn’t just involve picking words with the correct meanings—they must also keep a consistent tone and style within each piece, ensure that metaphors both make sense and evoke the intended feelings, and (ideally) write in a way that holds the reader’s attention without becoming boring or repetitive. All of these are challenging problems that require a high level of linguistic skill to solve.
Linguistic intelligence also has a clear pattern of development through a person’s early childhood, which fulfills another of Gardner’s criteria. He explains that linguistic intelligence starts developing in infancy: Language skills begin with unintelligible babbling, then generally progress to single words around age one, to simple phrases at age two or three, and then to complex sentences by four or five years old. Development slows significantly after age five, and often depends largely on how caregivers or teachers encourage and guide the child’s language skills.
Finally, brain structure and function play crucial roles in linguistic intelligence. Gardner says that language processing is typically localized in the left hemisphere (half) of the brain. He also notes that injuries to that area can result in various types of language impairment, which fulfills another of his criteria for intelligence. For instance, some head injuries affecting the left side of the brain cause aphasia, which is the inability to recall certain words or to use them correctly while speaking.
#2: Logical-Mathematical Intelligence
The second intelligence Gardner discusses is logical-mathematical intelligence. Its core functions allow you to recognize patterns, follow lines of reasoning, and make connections between abstract concepts. This type of information is encoded in numbers, mathematical operations, logic symbols, and so on.
Mathematicians and scientists heavily rely on this type of intelligence in their work, albeit in different ways. Mathematicians are often driven by a desire to find patterns and create abstract systems using numbers; scientists, on the other hand, seek to understand physical reality through study and experimentation. Some such people—such as Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking—are commonly considered geniuses.
Gardner says that, like linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence has a clear path of development that begins in infancy.
At less than a year old, children start to understand simple cause-and-effect patterns and to make comparisons (such as recognizing that one object is larger than another). They begin learning to count between one and two years old, generally by counting physical items they can see and touch. By age six or seven, children can perform simple abstract reasoning and work with hypothetical scenarios—for instance, “If I have two apples, then add one more, how many apples do I have?”
Gardner admits that it’s difficult to say exactly which parts of the brain give rise to this intelligence. While certain brain areas, particularly in the left hemisphere, seem important for numerical and logical operations, logical-mathematical abilities may be distributed throughout the brain. This makes logical-mathematical abilities more vulnerable to general cognitive decline (that is, dementia), but more resilient in the face of localized brain damage.
#3: Musical Intelligence
The next form of intelligence Gardner describes is musical intelligence. Its core functions enable you to recognize musical qualities such as pitch and rhythm. It also allows you to reproduce music you’ve heard (for example, by singing along to your favorite song) and create your own music—even something as simple as drumming your hands on a table is an expression of musical intelligence. This type of intelligence is encoded in musical symbols such as staffs, clefs, and notes.
Naturally, musicians make frequent use of musical intelligence to write and perform their songs. Exceptional musicians such as Ludwig von Beethoven and Freddie Mercury are often considered to be “musical geniuses.”
The development of musical intelligence follows a distinct pattern, beginning with infant babbling and singing. Children start producing distinct musical patterns and fragments of familiar songs as early as two years old. However, Gardner notes that musical intelligence often plateaus in early childhood unless caregivers encourage and guide its growth.
Finally, Gardner notes that musical ability is largely associated with parts of the right hemisphere of the brain. This is one of the most important points in favor of musical skill being its own intelligence, rather than an offshoot of linguistic intelligence—which is localized in the left hemisphere—or logical-mathematical intelligence, which is distributed across both hemispheres.
He adds that there have been cases of brain-damaged individuals who lose their musical skills, while their language and mathematical skills remain intact (or vice versa). There are also “savants” who have extraordinary musical talent despite being developmentally disabled in other ways. This reinforces the idea that musical intelligence is a distinct phenomenon, separate from all other forms of intelligence.
