Search Here

One of the most complex organs in the body is the human brain. Due to changes in activity levels, rate of development and other causes that have yet to be identified, human's brains vary so greatly. In a new study, researchers were interested in discovering the differences between a brain of a genius and that of a person with normal intelligence. The research team headed by evolutionary anthropologist from Florida State University, Dean Falk and Weiwei Men from the East China Normal University's Department of Physics specifically studied the brain of Albert Einstein.

In this study, Men developed a new technique that allowed them to study the corpus callosum in Einstein's brain for the very first time. This part of the brain is made up of a bundle of fibers that connects the brain's two cerebral hemispheres. It is also responsible for inter-hemisphere communication. The new technique measured the thickness of this bundle of nerves and used that measurement to determine the level of connectivity between the two parts of the brain.

The team then compared Einstein's level of connectivity to two men. One of them was older and the other was around the same age as Einstein was in 1905, which was 26. The researchers found that Einstein's brain was significantly more connected when compared to both the younger and older samples.  

"This study, more than any other to date, really gets at the 'inside' of Einstein's brain," Falk said according to Medical Xpress. "It provides new information that helps make sense of what is known about the surface of Einstein's brain. This technique should be of interest to other researchers who study the brain's all-important internal connectivity."

The study, "The Corpus Callosum of Albert Einstein's Brain: Another Clue to His High Intelligence," was published in the journal Brain.