Albert Einstein's brain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

Einstein's brain was preserved after his death in 1955, but this fact was not
revealed until 1978.
The brain of Albert Einstein has been a subject of much research and speculation.
Einstein's brain was removed within seven and a half hours of his death. The brain
has attracted attention because of Einstein's reputation as one of the foremost
geniuses of the 20th century, and apparent regularities or irregularities in the
brain have been used to support various ideas about correlations in neuroanatomy
with general or mathematical intelligence. Scientific studies have suggested that
regions involved in speech and language are smaller, while regions involved with
numerical and spatial processing are larger. Other studies have suggested an
increased number of glial cells in Einstein's brain.[1][2]

Contents
1 Fate of the brain
2 Scientific studies
2.1 Autopsy
2.2 Glial cells
2.3 Hippocampus
2.4 Stronger connection between brain hemispheres
2.5 Newly recovered photographs
2.6 Criticism
3 Brains of other geniuses
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Fate of the brain
Einstein's autopsy was conducted in the lab of Thomas Stoltz Harvey. Shortly after
Einstein's death in 1955, Harvey removed and weighed the brain at 1230g.[3] Harvey
then took the brain to a lab at the University of Pennsylvania where he dissected
it into several pieces; some of the pieces he kept to himself while others were
given to leading pathologists. He claimed he hoped that cytoarchitectonics would
reveal useful information.[4] Harvey injected 50% formalin through the internal
carotid arteries and afterward suspended the intact brain in 10% formalin. Harvey
photographed the brain from many angles. He then dissected it into about 240 blocks
(each about 1 cm3) and encased the segments in a plastic-like material called
collodion.[5][6] Harvey also removed Einstein's eyes, and gave them to Henry
Abrams, Einstein's ophthalmologist.[4] Whether or not Einstein's brain was
preserved with his prior consent is a matter of dispute. Ronald Clark's 1979
biography of Einstein states, "he had insisted that his brain should not be used
for research and that he be cremated", but more recent research has suggested that
this may not be true and that the brain was removed and preserved without the
permission of either Einstein or his close relatives. Hans Albert Einstein, the
physicist's elder son, endorsed the removal after the event, but insisted that his
father's brain should be used only for research to be published in scientific
journals of high standing.[4]

In 1978, Einstein's brain was rediscovered in Harvey's possession by journalist

Steven Levy.[7] Its sections had been preserved in alcohol in two large mason jars
within a cider box for over 20 years. In 2010, Harvey's heirs transferred all of
his holdings constituting the remains of Einstein's brain to the National Museum of
Health and Medicine, including 14 photographs of the whole brain (which was now in
fragments) never before revealed to the public.[8][9]

More recently, 46 small portions of Einstein's brain were acquired by the M�tter
Museum in Philadelphia. In 2013, these thin slices, mounted on microscope slides,
went on exhibit in the museum's permanent galleries.[10]

Scientific studies

The lateral sulcus (Sylvian fissure) in a normal brain. In Einstein's brain, this
was truncated.
Autopsy
Harvey had reported that Einstein had no parietal operculum in either hemisphere,
[11] but this finding has been disputed.[12] Photographs of the brain show an
enlarged Sylvian fissure. In 1999, further analysis by a team at McMaster
University in Hamilton, Ontario revealed that his parietal operculum region in the
inferior frontal gyrus in the frontal lobe of the brain was vacant. Also absent was
part of a bordering region called the lateral sulcus (Sylvian fissure). Researchers
at McMaster University speculated that the vacancy may have enabled neurons in this
part of his brain to communicate better. "This unusual brain anatomy...[missing
part of the Sylvian fissure]... may explain why Einstein thought the way he did,"
said Professor Sandra Witelson who led the research published in The Lancet. This
study was based on photographs of the whole brain made at autopsy in 1955 by Harvey
and not a direct examination of the brain. Einstein himself claimed that he thought
visually rather than verbally. Professor Laurie Hall of Cambridge University,
commenting on the study, said, "To say there is a definite link is one bridge too
far, at the moment. So far, the case isn't proven. But magnetic resonance and other
new technologies are allowing us to start to probe those very questions."[13]

Glial cells
In the 1980s, University of California, Berkeley professor Marian Diamond received
four sections of the cortical association regions of the superior prefrontal and
inferior parietal lobes in the right and left hemispheres of Albert Einstein's
brain from Thomas Harvey. In 1984, Marian Diamond and her associates were the first
ever to publish research on the brain of Albert Einstein.[14] She compared the
ratio of glial cells in Einstein's brain with that of the preserved brains of 11
other males. (Glial cells provide support and nutrition in the brain, form myelin,
and participate in signal transmission, and are the other integral component of the
brain, besides the neurons.) Dr. Diamond's laboratory made thin sections of
Einstein's brain, each 6 micrometers thick. They then used a microscope to count
the cells. Einstein's brain had more glial cells relative to neurons in all areas
studied, but only in the left inferior parietal area was the difference
statistically significant. This area is part of the association cortex, regions of
the brain responsible for incorporating and synthesizing information from multiple
other brain regions. stimulating environment can increase the proportion of glial
cells and the high ratio could possibly result from Einstein's life studying
stimulating scientific problems.[15] [16] The limitation that Diamond admits in her
study is that she had only one Einstein to compare with 11 brains of normal
intelligence individuals. S. S. Kantha of the Osaka Bioscience Institute criticized
Diamond's study, as did Terence Hines of Pace University.[4] Other issues related
to Diamond's study point out glial cells continue dividing as a person ages and
although Einstein's brain was 76, it was compared to brains that averaged 64 in age
(eleven male brains, 47�80 years of age). Diamond in her landmark study "On the
Brain of a Scientist: Albert Einstein" noted that the 11 male individuals whose
brains were used in her control base had died from nonneurologically related
diseases. She also noted that "Chronological age is not necessarily a useful
indicator in measuring biological systems. Environmental factors also play a strong
role in modifying the conditions of the organism. One major problem in dealing with
human specimens is that they do not come from controlled environments."[17]
Additionally, there is little information regarding the samples of brains that
Einstein's brain was compared against such as IQ score, or other relevant factors.
Diamond also admitted that research disproving the study was omitted.[citation
needed] His brain is now at the M�tter Museum in Philadelphia and two of the 140
sections are on loan at the British Museum.[18]

Scientists are currently interested in the possibility that physical differences in

brain structure could determine different abilities.[13] One part of the operculum
called Broca's area plays an important role in speech production. To compensate,
the inferior parietal lobe was 15 percent wider than normal.[19] The inferior
parietal region is responsible for mathematical thought, visuospatial cognition,
and imagery of movement.

Hippocampus
Dr. Dahlia Zaidel of the University of California, Los Angeles, examined two slices
of Albert Einstein's brain containing the hippocampus in 2001. The hippocampus is a
subcortical brain structure that plays an important role in learning and memory.
The neurons on the left side of the hippocampus were found to be significantly
larger than those on the right, and when compared with normal brain slices of the
same area in ordinary people, there was only minimal, inconsistent asymmetry in
this area. "The larger neurons in the left hippocampus, Zaidel noted, imply that
Einstein's left brain may have had stronger nerve cell connections between the
hippocampus and another part of the brain called the neocortex than his right. The
neocortex is where detailed, logical, analytical and innovative thinking takes
place, Zaidel noted in a prepared statement." [20][21]

Stronger connection between brain hemispheres

A study published in the journal Brain[22] in September 2013 analyzed Einstein's
corpus callosum - a large bundle of fibers that connects the two cerebral
hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication in the brain - using a
novel technique that allowed for a higher resolution measurement of the fiber
thickness. Einstein's corpus callosum was compared to two sample groups: 15 brains
of elderly people and 52 brains from people aged 26. Einstein was 26 in 1905, his
Annus Mirabilis (Miracle Year). The findings show that Einstein had more extensive
connections between certain parts of his cerebral hemispheres compared to both
younger and older control group brains.[23]

Newly recovered photographs

A study, "The cerebral cortex of Albert Einstein: a description and preliminary
analysis of unpublished photographs",[12] was published on November 16, 2012, in
the journal Brain. Dean Falk, an evolutionary anthropologist at Florida State
University, led the study - which analyzed 14 recently discovered photographs - and
described the brain: "Although the overall size and asymmetrical shape of
Einstein's brain were normal, the prefrontal, somatosensory, primary motor,
parietal, temporal and occipital cortices were extraordinary."[24] There was a
fourth ridge (apart from the three normal people have) in Einstein's mid-frontal
lobe involved in making plans and working memory. The parietal lobes were markedly
asymmetrical and a feature in Einstein's primary motor cortex may have been
associated with his musical ability.[15]

Another study led by Shanghai-based East China Normal University's Department of

Physics, "The Corpus Callosum of Albert Einstein's Brain: Another Clue to His High
Intelligence", published in the journal Brain on September 24, 2013, showed a new
technique to conduct the study, which is the first to detail Einstein's corpus
callosum, the brain's largest bundle of fibers that connects the two cerebral
hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication.[25] Einstein's corpus
callosum was thicker than those in control groups, possibly indicating better
cooperation between the hemispheres. Scientists currently cannot tell how far the
unusual features above were innate or how far they were due to Einstein devoting
his life to higher thought.

Criticism
Selection bias may have influenced published results, which means that results
showing differences between Einstein's brain and other brains tend to get published
while results showing that in many respects Einstein's brain was like other brains
tend to be neglected. Researchers knew which brain was Einstein's and which were
controls, allowing possible conscious or unconscious bias and preventing impartial
research.

By contrast, neurologist Terence Hines of Pace University is strongly critical of

the studies and has stated that they are flawed. Hines maintains that all human
brains are unique and different from others in some ways. Therefore, assuming
unique features in Einstein's brain were connected with his genius, in Hines
opinion, goes beyond the evidence. He argues further that correlating unusual brain
features with any characteristic requires studying many brains with those features,
and says that scanning the brains of many very capable scientists would be better
research than investigating the brains of just one or two geniuses.[15][26]

Brains of other geniuses

Preserving the brains of geniuses was not a new phenomenon�another brain to be
preserved and discussed in a similar manner was that of the German mathematician
Carl Friedrich Gauss almost a hundred years earlier. His brain was studied by
Rudolf Wagner who found its weight to be 1,492 grams and the cerebral area equal to
219,588 square millimeters.[27] Also found were highly developed convolutions,
which was suggested as the explanation of his genius.[28] Other brains that were
removed and studied include those of Vladimir Lenin,[29] the mathematician Sofia
Kovalevskaya,[30] and the Native American Ishi. The brain of Edward H. Rulloff, a
noted philologist and criminal, was removed after his death in 1871; in 1972, it
was still the second largest brain on record.[31]