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We all know that Einstein was a genius, so much so that his brain would work more than a thousand scientists.
Explore how Einstein's brain differed from ordinary humans, its unique structure, and the journey of its study after his death.
Key Takeaways
- Einstein's brain had a uniquely large corpus callosum, enhancing inter-hemispheric communication.
- His brain structure supported exceptional mathematical and creative abilities.
- The brain's distinct features likely developed through lifelong intellectual effort rather than being purely innate.
- The journey of Einstein's brain after death was controversial but led to valuable scientific insights.
- Einstein's legacy continues to inspire neuroscience and physics research.
What the video covers
- Einstein was a genius physicist known for the theory of special relativity and the photoelectric effect, earning him the Nobel Prize.
- Despite his wishes, Einstein's brain was secretly stolen by Dr. Thomas Harvey during autopsy in 1955 for research purposes.
- Dr. Harvey preserved the brain in 240 pieces, faced personal and professional challenges, and eventually sent samples to top neurologists.
- Studies revealed Einstein's brain had a larger corpus callosum, indicating stronger connectivity between left and right hemispheres.
- The corpus callosum's size contributed to his ability to imagine complex problems and enhanced neuron flow for mathematical calculations.
- Einstein's brain weighed less than average but had a thinner lining, possibly containing more neurons.
- Einstein showed delayed speech development but excelled in logical math processing and advanced calculus at a young age.
- His brain's uniqueness likely developed through intense intellectual effort rather than being innate at birth.
- Einstein's lifelong mission was to encapsulate universal laws into simple equations, leading to groundbreaking scientific contributions.
- Today, Einstein's brain is preserved at The Mutter Museum in microscopic slides for ongoing scientific interest.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to Einstein's Genius
- 00:21Einstein's Scientific Contributions
- 00:48Einstein's Wishes After Death
- 01:08The Theft of Einstein's Brain
- 01:31Dr. Thomas Harvey and the Brain's Journey
- 02:03Preservation and Personal Struggles
- 03:42Research on Einstein's Brain
- 04:12Brain Structure and Function
- 04:51Corpus Callosum and Brain Connectivity
- 06:00Neuron Flow and Brain Weight
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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Things which we never thought of, let alone understand, Einstein worked on those things and made it easy for the whole world.
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Albert Einstein was a physicist who published the theory of special relativity, E=mc², and formulated the photoelectric laws, leaving the world surprised.
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And therefore, he was awarded the Nobel Prize. Seeing his extraordinary thinking and understanding power, people believe that Einstein had an extraordinary brain which was quite different from ordinary humans.
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Einstein too knew this, and therefore he didn't want his body to be researched upon after his demise.
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Rather, he had instructed his body to be cremated. But the same happened that Einstein was afraid of.
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On 13 April 1955, when Einstein died in Princeton Hospital, the doctor who came to perform the autopsy secretly stole Einstein's brain.
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Because he was curious to know what was inside the brain of this genius. Once again, welcome to the Zem TV video.
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The doctor who stole Einstein's brain was Dr. Thomas Harvey, who was more interested in studying this brain than facing the consequences.
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When Princeton Hospital came to know about this incident, they fired him. But Dr. Harvey was successful in persuading Hans Albert to give him permission to research his father's brain and let the world know about it.
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From that day, a long journey started for that brain. Dr. Harvey was a pathologist who knew only about post-mortem.
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And that's why he believed that he would be able to research this genius's brain.
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But the situation was that Dr. Harvey lost his job at Princeton Hospital and also the designation of a pathologist.
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Dr. Harvey took Einstein's brain to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he took a lot of photos of the brain and cut it into 240 small pieces.
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Preserving every piece in separate jars, he hid all of them in his basement.
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Because of this, he had arguments with his wife, as his wife used to threaten him that she would throw this brain outside.
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The arguments eventually led to divorce, and Dr. Harvey went to Wichita, Kansas, with the brain, where he started working as a medical supervisor.
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And here, in his free time, he tried to study Einstein's brain. After that, he frequently switched jobs and moved to different cities with the brain.
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Even after many years, Dr. Harvey couldn't do any solid research on Einstein's brain. Instead, his medical license was cancelled.
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And the situation was so bad for him that he had to start working in a plastics factory.
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At that time, he made a good decision to send different pieces of the brain to the best neurologists in the world for detailed research.
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And he did that. Thirty years after the brain was stolen, the first study was published on Einstein's brain in 1985.
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For the next 28 years, many neurologists published several studies on this genius's brain.
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In these studies, it was found that Einstein's brain was quite different from the ordinary human brain.
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The biggest difference was found in the corpus callosum part. Now it is important to know that the human brain is divided into two parts.
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Whatever work a human does, it is processed in one part, and then the brain sends signals to that part of the body.
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The left brain controls the right portion of the body, whereas the right brain controls the left portion of the body.
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And for 90% of humans, the left brain is responsible for speech, understanding, mathematical calculations, and writing.
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Whereas the right brain is responsible for creativity, understanding of shapes, art, and music. Now you must be thinking, then what is the work of the corpus callosum?
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Imagine you are typing on the keyboard or mobile phone, and while doing this, both your hands are busy typing.
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The left hand is typing some alphabets, and the right hand is also doing the same.
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During typing, your left hand made a mistake, and you quickly used your right hand to erase that mistake.
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That means that when your right brain committed a mistake, it rectified the mistake by signaling the left brain.
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The link through which both halves of the brain are connected is called the corpus callosum.
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And Einstein's corpus callosum was larger than ordinary humans. That means his left brain and right brain had a strong connection.
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Because of this, Einstein could imagine complex problems and situations. Apart from the difference in the corpus callosum, Einstein's brain's pattern was also quite different from others.
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And researchers believe that it was the reason for good neuron flow. Good flow of neurons means that he had great power for mathematical calculations.
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Albert Einstein had the power of solving complex mathematical problems in his head without using pen and paper.
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According to a research paper, another reason for having a high number of neurons was that when Einstein's brain was weighed, it was 1230 grams.
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Whereas it is 1400 grams for normal human beings. Researchers believe that his brain's lining was quite thin, because of which it contained more neurons.
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But the biggest question was if Einstein was born with such a special brain or if there were changes afterward.
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After researching, it was found that when Einstein was born, he started speaking after the age of five.
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Whereas other children start speaking at the age of two or three. Even after he started speaking, he didn't like to speak much and remained lost in his own thoughts.
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He had less memorizing power. And not only that, he found it difficult to memorize the simple multiplication table.
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He was a master in processing math and numbers in logical ways rather than memorizing them. In his school life, although he failed in other subjects, he excelled in mathematics and science.
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When Albert Einstein was 12 years old, a family teacher left his geometry book in Einstein's house.
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Surprisingly, Einstein read that book in one day and cleared his geometric concepts. Not only that, he became a master of integral and differential calculus at the age of 14.
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His grip on math and science was so strong that professors used to become nervous when he raised his hand to ask questions because often Einstein's questions were difficult for even teachers to understand.
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From a very young age, he wanted to encapsulate the laws of the universe in a small equation.
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And this became his life's mission. At the age of 26, Einstein published four research papers and surprised the world.
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And therefore, he was given a PhD degree and awarded the Nobel Prize for playing an outstanding role for humanity.
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Without Einstein's theses, science is incomplete. Many doctors and scientists came to the conclusion that Einstein's brain became special after his birth.
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The biggest reason behind it was when he couldn't find an answer to his questions, he tried to find answers with the help of his brain.
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Doing so, from a young age, he specially developed his brain. Today, Einstein's brain is kept in America's The Mutter Museum,
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which is preserved with great care in microscopic slides. Hope you will like and share this Zem TV video.
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My heartfelt appreciation for your loving comments. We'll meet you in another amazing video.
Topics:EinsteinEinstein's braincorpus callosumbrain researchThomas Harveyneurosciencespecial relativityNobel Prizebrain structuregenius brain
