Washington, Jan 7 (IANS): A study says the exceptionally smart are often the invisible in a classroom and miss teacher input and external motivation.

This conclusion comes as the result of the largest scientific study to date of the profoundly gifted, a 30-year study conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of education and human development.

David Lubinski, professor of psychology and human development at Peabody, led the study, which tracked 300 gifted children from age 13 until age 38, logging their accomplishments in academia, business, culture, health care, science and technology.

The results were recently published in a paper titled "Who Rises to the Top? Early Indicators", in Psychological Science.

"Gifted children are a precious human-capital resource," said Lubinski, who has spent four decades studying talented individuals to correlate exceptional early SAT scores with achievement later in life.

"This population represents future creators of modern culture and leaders in business, health care, law, the professoriate and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Our study provides new insight into the potential of gifted children."