Albert Einstein's brain
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/90.210.58.154|90.210.58.154]] to last version by Power.corrupts (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
[[Image:Albert Einstein Head.jpg|220px|thumb|right|Einstein's brain was preserved after his death in 1955, but this fact was not revealed until 1978.]]
'''[[Albert Einstein]]'s [[brain]]''' has often been a subject of research and speculation. Einstein's [[human brain|brain]] was removed within seven hours of his [[death]]. The brain has attracted attention because of Einstein's reputation for being one of the foremost [[genius]]es 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 (trait)|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 cell]]s in Einstein's brain.
== Preservation of Einstein's brain ==
[[Image:Einstein's brain (Lancet).jpg|300px|thumb|right|A photograph from 1955 of Einstein's brain.]]
Einstein's brain was removed, weighed and preserved by [[Thomas Stoltz Harvey]], the [[pathology|pathologist]] who performed the [[autopsy]] on Einstein. He claimed he hoped that [[cytoarchitectonics]] would reveal useful information. <ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602913 NPR: The Long, Strange Journey of Einstein's Brain<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Harvey injected 10% [[formalin]] through the internal carotid arteries and afterwards suspended the intact brain in 10% formalin. Harvey photographed the brain from many angles. He then dissected it into roughly 240 blocks (each about 10cm<sup>3</sup>) and encased the segments in a plastic-like material called [[collodion|celloidin]]. <ref>http://www.bioquant.com/gallery/einstein.html</ref><ref>[http://www.newhorizons.org/neuro/diamond_einstein.htm Why Einstein's Brain? by Marian Diamond<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Harvey may also have removed Einstein's [[eye]]s, and given them to Henry Abrams. <ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602913 NPR: The Long, Strange Journey of Einstein's Brain<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> He was apparently fired from his position at [[Princeton Hospital]] shortly thereafter for refusing to relinquish the [[organ (anatomy)|organs]].
== Disputed consent ==
Whether Einstein's brain was removed and preserved after his death in 1955 with his permission is a matter of dispute. Ronald Clark's 1971 biography of Einstein said that "he had insisted that his brain should be used for research and that he be cremated", but more recent research has suggested that this may not be true at all, and that the brain was removed and preserved without either Einstein's immediate permission or the permission of his close relatives (Einstein, [[Walter Isaacson]]). [[Hans Albert Einstein]], the physicist’s son, agreed to the removal after the event but insisted that his father’s brain should be used only for scientific research to be published in [[scientific journal]]s of high standing.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602913 NPR: The Long, Strange Journey of Einstein's Brain<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
In 1978, Einstein's brain was rediscovered in the possession of Dr Harvey by journalist [[Steven Levy]].<ref>[http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/einsteins-brain StevenLevy.com » I Found Einstein’s Brain<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The brain sections had been preserved in alcohol in 2 large [[antique fruit jar|mason jars]] within a cider box for over 20 years.
== The brains of other geniuses ==
Preserving the brains of geniuses was not a new phenomenon—another famous brain to be preserved and discussed in a similar manner was that of the [[Germany|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.<ref>
{{cite journal
| last = Donaldson
| first = Henry H.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Anatomical Observations on the Brain and Several Sense-Organs of the Blind Deaf-Mute, Laura Dewey Bridgman
| journal = The American Journal of Psychology
| volume = 4
| issue = 2
| pages = 248-294
| publisher = E. C. Sanford
| location =
| date = 1891
| url =
| doi =
| id =
| accessdate = }} the reference says: "Gauss, 1492 grm. 957 grm. 219588. sq. mm. ", i.e the unit is ''square mm''. In the later reference: Dunnington (1927), the unit is erroneously reported as square cm, which gives an unreasonably large area. See [[Carl Friedrich Gauss]] discussion page for additional info.
</ref> Also found were highly developed convolutions, which was suggested as the explanation of his genius
<ref>Dunnington, 1927</ref>. Other famous brains that were removed and studied include that of [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]], [[Ishi]]. The brain of [[Edward H. Rulloff]], philologist and "criminal of superior intelligence," was removed after his death in 1871; in 1972, it was still the second largest brain on record <ref>''New York Times'', Nov. 7, 1972, p. 37</ref>.
==Scientific studies==
[[Image:lateral sulcus.png|200px|thumb|right|The [[lateral sulcus]] (Sylvian fissure) in a normal brain. In Einstein's brain, this was [[truncated]].]]
===Study finding part of Einstein's brain missing and another part 15% larger===
However, in 1999, further analysis by a team at [[McMaster University]] in [[Ontario]] revealed that his parietal [[operculum (brain)|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 [[Sandra Witelson|Professor Sandra Witelson]] who led the research published in ''[[The Lancet]]''. It should be noted that this study was based on photographs of Einstein's brain made in 1955 by Dr. Harvey, and not direct examination of the brain, as implied by the caption of one of the photographs, inaccurately identifying it as a photograph from 1995. Einstein himself claimed that he thought through images rather than verbally. Professor Laurie Hall of [[University of Cambridge|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''".<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/371698.stm BBC News | Sci/Tech | Why size mattered for Einstein<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Scientists are currently interested in the possibility that physical differences in brain structure could determine different abilities.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/371698.stm BBC News | Sci/Tech | Why size mattered for Einstein<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>http://www.bioquant.com/gallery/einstein.html</ref> One famous part of the operculum is [[Broca's area]] which plays an important role in [[conversation|speech]] production (Einstein was speculated to have [[Asperger's Syndrome]]). To compensate, the inferior [[parietal lobe]] was 15 percent wider than normal. <ref>http://staff.washington.edu/sarawyck/Readings/brains.htm</ref> The inferior parietal region is responsible for mathematical thought, visuospatial cognition, and imagery of movement.
===Study finding more glial cells in Einstein's brain===
In the 1980s, [[University of California, Berkeley]] professor Marian C. Diamond persuaded Thomas Harvey to give her samples of Einstein's brain. She compared the ratio of [[glial cells]] in Einstein's brain with that in the preserved brains of 11 men. (Glial cells provide support and nutrition in the brain, form myelin, and participate in signal transmission.) Dr. Diamond's laboratory made thin sections of Einstein's brain, each 6 micrometers thick. They then used a [[microscope]] to count the [[cell (biology)|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 [[Cerebral cortex Association areas|association cortex]], regions of the brain responsible for incorporating and synthesizing information from multiple other brain regions. Diamond admits a limitation in her study is that she had only one Einstein to compare with 11 normal men. S. S. Kantha of the [[Osaka BioScience Institute]] in [[Japan]] criticized Diamond's study, as did [[Terence Hines]] of [[Pace University]]. <ref>[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602913 NPR: The Long, Strange Journey of Einstein's Brain<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Diamond and Joseph Altman (then of Purdue University) had already both discovered that [[rat]]s with enriched environments developed more glial cells for each [[neuron]]. Rats in impoverished environments had fewer glial cells relative for each neuron. <ref>[http://www.newhorizons.org/neuro/diamond_einstein.htm Why Einstein's Brain? by Marian Diamond<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[[Relics: Einstein's Brain]], a 1994 documentary by Kevin Hull
*[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4602913 "The Long, Strange Journey of Einstein's Brain"], NPR special
*[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05107/488975.stm "Doctor kept Einstein's brain in jar 43 years"]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/371698.stm Why size mattered for Einstein]
*[http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/13/7/728 Cortical Sulcal Maps in Autism]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2988647.stm Einstein and Newton 'had autism']
* [http://www.bbsonline.org/documents/a/00/00/11/88/bbs00001188-00/jburns.htm Cortical Connectivity, Metarepresentation and the Social Brain.]
*[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/science/14prof.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin A Hands-On Approach to Studying the Brain, Even Einstein’s]
*[http://www.depressedmetabolism.com/2008/06/01/albert-einsteins-brain-and-information-theoretic-death/ Albert Einstein’s Brain and Information-theoretic Death]
*"Possessing Genius. The Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein's Brain". A book by Carolyn Abraham. St. Martins Press. 2001
[[Category:Albert Einstein]]
[[Category:Famous body parts]]
[[Category:History of neuroscience]]
[[id:Otak Albert Einstein]]
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