Einstein’s Brain
• 1879-1955
Einstein’s Brain
• Einstein died in 1955 at age 76. His brain
was stored by Dr Thomas Harvey,
pathologist, who performed the autopsy.
Harvey cut the brain into 240 pieces, which
he kept in jars at his house. Harvey moved
around the country but he always brought
the brain with him. He eventually sent parts
out to be studied to various researchers in
the 1980s and 1990s.
(Reference: Abraham, C., Possessing
Genius: The Bizarre Odyssey of Einstein's
Brain, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2002)
Einstein’s Brain: Smaller Size
• 1879-1955
Einstein’s Brain: Parietal lobe
• Parietal lobes are responsible for visual and 3D representation and mathematical reasoning.
• E’s inferior parietal lobules are not divided by
major cleft
– Not seen in 191 controls!
– Axons were connected in unusual ways
• “might have allowed for his brilliance and his ability to put
spatial representations into mathematical concepts”
Einstein’s Brain: Hippocampus
• E’s left hippocampal neurons were larger
in 4 of 5 five regions compared to right.
– Controls showed minimal and inconsistent
asymmetry.
– Larger neurons in left hippocampus, DW
Zaidel noted, imply that Einstein's left brain
may have had stronger nerve cell connections
between the hippocampus and neocortex
than his right.
Einstein’s Brain: Other Differences
• Total brain weight of only 1,230 grams
(average same-aged male = 1,350 grams).
• Thickness of area 9 (prefrontal cortex) was
thinner than that of 5 controls, but same
number of neurons.
– Thus density of neurons in AE’s brain greater.
"On the Brain of a Scientist: Albert Einstein”
Diamond, Scheibel, & Murphy (1985)
• Surveyed neurons and glia in left and
right area 9 (important in planning) and
area 39 (language and integration)
– More glial cells per neuron in AE compared
to 11 age-matched male controls.
– Left area 39 most significant difference
• Conclusion: AE’s neurons may
have had an increased
"metabolic need"