Who has never dreamed of having Einstein's brain? What did he have more or less than us? A modern-day genius known to all, Nobel Prize winner in physics in 1921, he wanted to be cremated so that his ashes could be scattered so as not to become an object of worship. But in 1955, the doctor Thomas Harvey responsible for his autopsy secretly removed his brain.
Amazing first analyzes
Harvey's first surprising conclusion is: Einstein's brain weighs 1230 g, unlike the 1300 g average for humans. The first observation is therefore that the size of a brain is not necessarily indicative of a certain intelligence.
It was in 1985 that Harvey and a few colleagues began to publish their discoveries, after having sparked a number of speculations and fantasies. Their first conclusion is that Einstein's brain contains more glial cells than average (these are cells that protect and nourish neurons).
In 1999, a new publication by Harvey and neurologist Sandra Witelson aroused great interest. Indeed, they notice that compared to the control brains with which they work, that of the father of the theory of relativity has a unique lateral furrow. Additionally, they note theabsence of the parietal operculum allowing precise hand movements.
“Einstein's intelligence in these cognitive domains and his self-described scientific way of thinking may be related to the typical anatomy of his inferior parietal lobules,” indicate the two researchers.
Studies question previous results, but confirm the peculiarity of Einstein's brain
But anthropologist Dean Falk – a specialist in brain evolution – obtains conclusions that contradict these latest results.
On the other hand, she obtains other interesting deductions which could correlate with Einstein's extraordinary intelligence. Indeed, by comparing it with 85 other control brains, she observed that that of the prodigy stood out. “Einstein had extraordinary prefrontal corticeswith complex foldings which may have contributed to his remarkable cognitive abilities”. She also adds this: “In general, the expansion of folds in a specific area suggests that there may be an increase in the number of neurons in that region and, indeed, an increase in the complexity of their connections”.
And as if a possible increase in the number of neurons was not enough to convince of the incredible intelligence of the physicist, she argues: « lthe so-called somatosensory and motor corticesclose to the region which represents the face and the tongue, were very extensive. THE parietal lobes were also inusual et may have provided the neurological substrate for his mathematical and spatial vision gifts as other authors have suggested.
A scientific legacy and an enduring mystery
Discoveries about Einstein's brain continue to raise fascinating questions about the biological basis of intelligence. Despite numerous studies and analyses, researchers have yet to identify specific characteristics that can fully explain its exceptional abilities. Einstein's unique neural structures and cortical areas, while fascinating, offer only partial clues, leaving unanswered the question of what actually makes a genius. This mystery still fuels scientific curiosity today and invites us to further explore the limits and complexities of our minds.
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