Einstein's Corpus Callosum
Another researched factor which may have contributed to Einstein's brilliance of the function of his brain is the structure of his corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is located between the right and left cerebral hemispheres (halves of the brain) and consists of neural fibres. These neural fibres also form the largest white matter structure in the human brain.
A team from Washington University School of Medicine and East China Normal University's Department of Physics conducted extensive research in detailing Einstein's corpus callosum. They identified certain things which may have had obvious differences in the function of the corpus callosum to that of other men. Weiwein Men, a lead author, from East China Normal University's Department of Physics sought a new technique to study this specific part of Einstein's brain, and this attempted to investigate the internal connectivity and cell function of the neural fibres.
A team from Washington University School of Medicine and East China Normal University's Department of Physics conducted extensive research in detailing Einstein's corpus callosum. They identified certain things which may have had obvious differences in the function of the corpus callosum to that of other men. Weiwein Men, a lead author, from East China Normal University's Department of Physics sought a new technique to study this specific part of Einstein's brain, and this attempted to investigate the internal connectivity and cell function of the neural fibres.
What was found out?
They identified varying thickness of the subdivisions of Einstein's corpus callosum from front to back. Additionally, nerves that intersected one another from both hemispheres of the brain were colour- coded. By measuring the thickness and colour- coding these fibres, the researchers were able to indicate the number of nerves that crossed. With this data they were able to demonstrate exactly how well connected or 'fused' these two major components of the brain are in specific regions and lobes, which are responsible for various functions depending on where they cross, intersect or gather.
The Results
When the research teams completed their physical study of the brain, they were then able to compare their results to that of two other samples of men of similar age of Einstein in the time. Their findings indicated that Albert Einstein possessed more vast neural connections in his brain/mind as a result of the physical formation of his corpus callosum. Compared to the two other samples, the way his cerebral hemispheres linked together proved relation between his brain structure and brilliance in the fields of mathematics, physics and more specifically, the reason to his late speech development in his childhood years.