Albert Einstein Brain vs Normal Brain [Video]
A new study led by Florida State University evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk has revealed that portions of the brain of Albert Einstein are unlike those of most people. The differences could relate to Einstein’s unique discoveries about the nature of space and time. Falk’s team used photographs of Einstein’s brain, taken shortly after his death, but not previously analyzed in detail.
Source: YouTube Channel ( Subscribe for more videos )
- Chandravanshi Sunday Facts
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv4ZaKnv8JpOt3ljbaZ9s_Q?sub_confirmation=1
2. BlackBoard Sunday Facts
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF3XAA7OkxeIFMFX3GS7hyg?sub_confirmation=1
The photographs showed that Einstein’s brain had an unusually complex pattern of convolutions in the prefrontal cortex, which is important for abstract thinking.
In other words, Einsteins’ brain actually looks different from yours or mine. Falk and her team published their work on November 16, 2012 in the journal Brain.
This is an actual photo of Einstein’s brain, which was preserved in formalin by pathologist Thomas Harvey after Einstein’s death in 1955.
A new study of this photo and others of Einstein’s brain reveal an unusually complex pattern of convolutions in the prefrontal cortex, which is important for abstract thinking.
Photo via the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland.
A 1920 photo of Einstein in his office at University of Berlin, released in the U.S. in 1920. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Falk and her colleagues obtained 12 original photographs of Einstein’s brain from the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Maryland.
They analyzed the photos and compared the patterns of convoluted ridges and furrows in Einstein’s prefrontal cortex with those of 85 brains described in other studies.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv4ZaKnv8JpOt3ljbaZ9s_Q?sub_confirmation=1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF3XAA7OkxeIFMFX3GS7hyg?sub_confirmation=1
According to an article in Nature, many of the photographs were taken from unusual angles. They apparently show brain structures that weren’t visible in previously analyzed photos.
How did Einstein’s brain come to undergo so much scrutiny? Pathologist Thomas Harvey performed an autopsy on Einstein shortly after his death in 1955.
Albert Einstein Brain vs Normal Brain [Video]
At that time, he removed Einstein’s brain and preserved it in formalin. He took dozens of black-and-white photos of the brain.
Later, he cut Einstein’s brain up into 240 blocks, took tissue samples from each block, mounted them onto microscope slides and distributed the slides to some of the world’s best neuropathologists.
So studies of Einstein’s brain began, although the first detailed one didn’t appear for 30 more years.
In 1985, a study revealed that two parts of Einstein’s brain contained an unusually large number of non-neuronal cells — called glia — for every neuron, or nerve-transmitting cell in the brain.
Ten years after that, Einstein’s brain was found to lack a furrow normally seen in the parietal lobe.
Scientists at that time said the missing furrow might have been related to Einstein’s enhanced ability to think in three dimensions, as well as to his mathematical skills.
Now the most recent study, by Falk et. al., suggests that the pattern of convolutions in Einstein’s prefrontal cortex looks different from most people’s. And if all this talk of removing Einstein’s brain, and photographing it, seems a bit ghoulish, well, the science journal Nature explains it this way:
Albert Einstein is considered to be one of the most intelligent people that ever lived, so researchers are naturally curious about what made his brain tick.
Einstein in 1947, at the age of 68. His special and general theories of relativity altered the way physicists, and the rest of us, think about space and time.
There’s no doubt that Einstein is the most famous abstract thinker known to most of us.
His general and special theories of relativity changed the way the rest of us think about space and time, in ways you might take for granted. For example, Einstein said time is relative.
It doesn’t click along steadily for everyone at the same rate. It’s Einstein who imagined such a thing, and can you picture yourself making that leap of thought, much less proving it to the world, using the tools of mathematics and physics?
Albert Einstein Brain vs Normal Brain [Video]
Another example: Einstein altered scientists’ pre-existing understanding of gravity, and, in so doing, changed the way we think about the structure of space.
In simple terms, Einstein said that matter causes space to curve. That’s what Einstein’s brain suggested to him and, ultimately, it’s what caused the 20th century revolution in physics.
Einstein’s ability to think abstractly — to think about fundamental properties of the universe in ways no one ever had — is why he’s considered the father of modern physics and the most influential physicist of the 20th century.
Bottom line: Florida State University evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk led a study showing that portions of the brain of Albert Einstein are different from those of most people.
Falk’s team used photographs of Einstein’s brain, taken shortly after his death, and showed that Einstein’s brain has an unusually complex pattern of convolutions in the prefrontal cortex.
This part of the brain is important for abstract thought. Falk and her team published their work on November 16, 2012 in the journal Brain.
In what ways might Einstein’s brain biology have been different from average? originally appeared on Quora — the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answer by Joyce Schenkein, Ph.D in neuropsychology, on Quora:
Before looking at differences between brains (to understand various behaviors), do consider that our own brains shows vastly different capabilities depending upon whether we are starving, exhausted/sleep deprived/sleeping, drunk, on medication, upset, bipolar in one extreme vs. another, feverish, etc.
Therefore, one needs more than just a mere look at a brain to predict function.
Daniel Amen found that certain inattentive husbands showed more activity in the frontal lobe (and better behavior) after being given Ritalin for ADD.
And their wives showed less indication of rage in the limbic system when treated for PMS, so improving the function of these two types of brains with medication saved the marriages.
Today In: Tech
Suppose the brain looks normal. Does this mean behavior will be normal?
Dr. Bennet Omalu discovered that the brains of NFL (National Football League) players that appeared normal in MRI scans, showed, upon autopsy, scores of tau deposits and damaged neurons.
Behaviors of violence, confusion, depression, and memory loss were associated with these players while alive. Thus, a superficial gaze at brain scan is insufficient to predict function.
PROMOTED
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv4ZaKnv8JpOt3ljbaZ9s_Q?sub_confirmation=1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF3XAA7OkxeIFMFX3GS7hyg?sub_confirmation=1
Based upon his studies, Dr Omalu predicts that O.J. Simpson, (however normal his brain may appear upon imaging) probably also has these micro plaques and tau (CTE — chronic traumatic encephalopathy) as a result of his history of head impacts coupled with O.J.’s criminal and irrational actions.
Or suppose the brain appears to be abnormal; does this predict abnormal behavior?
Albert Einstein Brain vs Normal Brain [Video]
Consider Dr. James Fallon, who studied the brains of psychopaths only to discover that his own brain fit the classic model!
In fact, he then learned that some of his ancestors had actually committed murder. Fallon himself attributes his normality to having had a loving upbringing.
Much data suggests that in susceptible individuals, early child abuse is associated with violent adult behavior, so Fallon believes that a nurturing environment spared him of this outcome.
Neuroscience has understood a great deal by the examination of damaged brains. We’ve learned to localize specific functions to various areas and structures in the brain.
But when a brain functions extremely well, it’s not always easy to understand why.
In the case of Kim Peek, an autistic savant initially diagnosed as mentally retarded, Kim was born without a corpus callosum connecting the two hemispheres of his brain.
Whereas this might be a liability for some people, for Kim, it meant that he could read the left side of a page with one eye and the right side with the other simultaneously and at great speed.
Also in the case of Kim, he had total recall of everything he ever read and appeared in public to answer arcane questions, perform mental calculations, identify the day of the week associated with any date in history, etc.
The movie Rain Man was based upon Kim.
Although Kim was studied by neuroscientists, no one really knows how he was able to perform his remarkable feats.
So what features of Einstein’s brain made him so remarkable?
Although Einstein had requested to be cremated, at the last minute (unbeknownst to his family), Dr. Thomas Harvey stole and ran off with his brain.
There are plenty of descriptions of the years Harvey dodged detection, keeping the brain in a cider keg inside a beer cooler for decades before finally giving sections to neuroanatomists to study.
In reading the diverse findings, keep in mind that Harvey first photographed Einstein’s brain and then cut it into 240 blocks before distribution. This makes for a lot of “blind men” trying to understand the same elephant.
Also consider that Einstein was 76 at the time of his death, so that age-related brain changes, such as thinning of the cerebral cortex, are to be expected.
Among the chief features that differentiated his brain from others was the amount of glial cells (the “dark (mysterious) matter”) of the brain, an extra gyrus in the parietal lobe- see below from Albert Einstein’s brain:
“
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.
Albert Einstein Brain vs Normal Brain [Video]
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 direct examination of the brain.
Einstein himself claimed that he thought visually rather than verbally.
Marian C. Diamond compared the ratio of glial cells in Einstein’s brain with that of the preserved brains of 11 other people.
Glial cells provide support and nutrition in the brain, form myelin, participate in signal transmission, and are the other integral component of the brain other than the neurons.
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.
As pointed out by the author of this article, Diamond had only 12 subject samples, only one of which was a genius.
Since originally writing this post, I’ve come across conflicting reports in the literature.
The following is taken from The cerebral cortex of Albert Einstein: a description and preliminary analysis of unpublished photographs Brain. 2013 Apr; 136(4): 1304–1327: “Diamond et al. (1985) found a higher glia:neuron ratio in the left inferior parietal lobule (cf. Hines, 1998).
Anderson and Harvey (1996) found greater neuronal density in the right frontal lobe. Kigar et al. (1997) reported increased glia:neuron ratio in the bilateral temporal neocortices.
Witelson et al. (1999b) observed a larger expanse of the bilateral inferior parietal lobules. Colombo (2006) found larger astrocytic processes and more numerous interlaminar terminal masses.
Falk’s study (2009) documented unusual gross anatomy ‘in and around the primary somatosensory and motor cortices.’”
Also, Einstein had relatively expanded prefrontal cortices, which may have provided underpinnings for some of his extraordinary cognitive abilities, including his productive use of thought experiments.
“The unusual morphology in Einstein’s parietal lobes may have provided neurological substrates for his visuospatial and mathematical abilities.” (Witelson et al., 1999a, b).
So I think it’s a bit early to give definitive answers.
There probably are structural differences that account for variation in personality and function.
But even identical twins, whose brains were fabricated from the same blueprint, also show behavioral differences and are not always concordant for particular psychiatric disorders.
Website: