Einstein’s Brain Was Unusual In Several Respects

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Researchers studying Einstein's brain say that the theoretical physicist's brain was highly unusual in many ways. Maybe all those rumors about him being an alien were true! ;)

The team compared Einstein’s brain with those of 85 other people and found that the great physicist did indeed have something special between his ears. Although the brain is only average in size, several regions feature additional convolutions and folds rarely seen in others. For example, the regions on the left side of the brain that facilitate sensory inputs into and motor control of the face and tongue are much larger than normal; and his prefrontal cortex — linked to planning, focused attention and perseverance — is also greatly expanded.
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I doubt this is an indication he was an "alien"... Whatever that's supposed to mean. But it does give some support to the notion that lifestyle can affect physiology. Meaning: the fact that he spent a great deal of time thinking about things influenced how his brain developed as much as how his brain had developed influenced how the thought about those same things.
 
Hasn't this been known for years? I seem to remember hearing about Einstein's brain being dissected when I was a kid, and it had been done many years before that.
 
CaptNumbNutz said:
Hasn't this been known for years? I seem to remember hearing about Einstein's brain being dissected when I was a kid, and it had been done many years before that.
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I believe this to be correct. However maybe some newer details came to light only recently so maybe it's both (shrugs).

I just wish they had Newtons brain too, so they could compare these same characteristics/traits/whatever and see if there are similarities. Darn it. :(
 
MasonD said:
I believe this to be correct. However maybe some newer details came to light only recently so maybe it's both (shrugs).

I just wish they had Newtons brain too, so they could compare these same characteristics/traits/whatever and see if there are similarities. Darn it. :(
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Yeah well that's what you get for eating all the Fig Newtons and not stopping to think about the potential for science later. Bad MasonD! Bad!
 
He also had an overly oxygenated brain. I believe the concentration of oxygen in his brain was something on the order of 3 times the amount of us regular thinkers have.
 
Methadras said:
He also had an overly oxygenated brain. I believe the concentration of oxygen in his brain was something on the order of 3 times the amount of us regular thinkers have.
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Serious question: Is this related to having a bigger nose?
(I'm googling trying to find info on it but nothing as of posting)
 
so intelligence is hereditary after all !
No wonder donor egg buyers look for smarts, hoping for DNA that codes for more brain folds
 
CaptNumbNutz said:
Hasn't this been known for years? I seem to remember hearing about Einstein's brain being dissected when I was a kid, and it had been done many years before that.
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folds in the tissue correlating to more intelligence rather than raw brain size has been known for years
 
Unfortunatly my brain only has a couple folds left. one for gaming, one for b00bies and one for redirecting back to the first 2.
 
Cannydog said:
I doubt this is an indication he was an "alien"... Whatever that's supposed to mean. But it does give some support to the notion that lifestyle can affect physiology. Meaning: the fact that he spent a great deal of time thinking about things influenced how his brain developed as much as how his brain had developed influenced how the thought about those same things.
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Which came first: The modified brain, or the lifestyle? Can't determine cause and effect here...
 
"For example, the regions on the left side of the brain that facilitate sensory inputs into and motor control of the face and tongue are much larger than normal..."

220px-Einstein_tongue.jpg
 
Probably an evolutionary anomaly. I wonder if it perpetuated. He only had 3 children and only one of them had any children. This brings me back to the movie Idiocracy. If he had been a real Playa, There could have been hundreds of descendants with the "special brain" by now.. I suppose the Playa lifestyle and "special brain" are mutually exclusive.
 
sinclair-zx81 said:
Probably an evolutionary anomaly. I wonder if it perpetuated. He only had 3 children and only one of them had any children. This brings me back to the movie Idiocracy. If he had been a real Playa, There could have been hundreds of descendants with the "special brain" by now.. I suppose the Playa lifestyle and "special brain" are mutually exclusive.
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He could have been. Exposures to high levels of radiations during the Project might have hampered his ability to produce hundreds of special-brained descendants!
 
Idiocracy was indeed funny, but I hope people realize there was zero science behind it. Dumb people can have smart kids.
 
MasonD said:
Serious question: Is this related to having a bigger nose?
(I'm googling trying to find info on it but nothing as of posting)
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That I'm not sure of. However, the human nose still grows until death.
 
It's also been determined that Einstein had much higher than normal Glial cells in his brain around the neurons that controlled logic and creativity...hence those areas of his brain did receive more nutrients/oxygen.
 
Monkey34 said:
Possibly, but the odds are against it. They are also breeding faster than the smarties. A look around is proof enough.
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Eh, also terribly unscientific. Poor people are having more children than affluent people. While the trend shows that more often than not, affluent people will be more educated and, on average, have higher IQ, it isn't the rule.

Thinking everyone around you is stupid is often a sign of terminal oldfogeyism. There is more educational material available to more people than at any other given time in human history. Don't let YouTube commenters sour your view of humanity.
 
gamerk2 said:
Which came first: The modified brain, or the lifestyle? Can't determine cause and effect here...
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Exactly what I was thinking. Correlation does not imply causation. Then again, I don't know anything about how brains develop. If they develop in a set, unique way and the lifestyle of someone doesn't change them, then yeah, it's something. If not, then this is nothing more than a possible indication of what characteristics a smart person's brain would develop.
 
Smart or dumb we all have the same fate in the end and most are ignorant of what reality really is.
 
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