Brainy Quote of the Day

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Einstein's Brain...

Some excerpts:

Beginning in the 1980s, researchers started asking [Thomas] Harvey for samples — photos, slides and preserved blocks of the actual brain. Observations began to trickle out. In 1999, Harvey and Witelson discovered that not only did Einstein have abnormally wide parietal lobes — associated with math, vision and spatial perception — he also lacked a groove that runs through that region. Their hypothesis: No groove means more connectivity between neurons.

So what did they find? Well, they analyzed 14 of these photographs and compared the visible parts of Einstein's outer brain with 85 human brains previously described in scientific studies. "Einstein's brain differs from the average human brain," says Falk. "In various parts, it's more convoluted. It's bumpier, and that may be related to an increase in the neurons."

Of course, there's an iPad app.

You can see the "Full Monty" of the brain below at the link. I'd prefer to remember him from photos like this:

Albert Einstein, seen playing the violin in the music room of the S.S. Belgenland, had knoblike structures on the part of the brain that controls motion of the right hand. Brain scans of modern musicians show similar structures.


NPR: Scientists Get A New Look At Einstein's Brain

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