The Data   Compared to the brains of the 11 normal men, the ratios of neurons to glial cells in Einstein’s brain were smaller in all four areas studied. However, when the numbers were examined more closely with statistics, only one area showed a difference - the ratio in the left area 39. So in the left area 39, Einstein’s brain had fewer neurons to glial cells than the normal brains. In other words, there were more glial cells for every neuron in Einstein’s brain.

The Conclusion   The authors concluded that the greater number of glial cells per neuron might indicate the neurons in Einstein’s brain had an increased "metabolic need" - they needed and used more energy. In this way, perhaps Einstein had better thinking abilities and conceptual skills.

The Problems Scientists are trained to read published papers carefully and to evaluate the methods, results and conclusions of experiments. While it is intriguing to use the results of this paper as an indication that Einstein’s genius was related to a particular brain region, it is perhaps a bit too early for such a statement. First, the "normal" brains that were compared to Einstein’s may not have been the best group for comparison. The average age of these brains was 12 years younger than Einstein’s brain. In fact, the youngest brain in this group was only 47 years old. It is possible that the neuron to glial ratio seen in Einstein’s brain was quite normal for his age and that the younger comparison group just did not show these changes yet. Also, the paper did not describe the background of the comparison group. What was their intelligence and cause of death? Would these factors have anything to do with the observed brain differences? Second, the "experimental group" had only one subject...Einstein! Additional studies are needed to see if these anatomical differences are found in other people with conceptual and mathematical skills like Einstein. Third, it appears that only a very small portion of the four areas of each brain was studied. The paper states that "Four to six sections were cut from each block, Einstein’s and the controls’." However, after staining, only ONE section from each block was studied! There is no indication that this single thin section was obtained from similar regions of area 39 and area 9 from the different brains. It is even unclear how much of each section was counted. Moreover, only the ratio of neurons to glial cells was published. The total number of cells that were counted is not given in the paper. This is important to get an idea of how the experimenters came to their conclusions. It is important to remember that the areas 9 and 39 make important connections with many other areas of the brain. To assign a particular behavior or personality to a single brain area is too simple. Parts of the brain do not act by themselves. Rather, complex behavior is the result of many areas acting together.

The Second Paper   A second paper describing Einstein's brain was published in 1996. Einstein's brain weighed only 1,230 grams, which is far less than the average adult male brain (about 1,400 grams). The authors also reported that the thickness of Einstein's cerebral cortex (area 9) was thinner than that of five control brains. However, the DENSITY of neurons in Einstein's brain was greater. In other words, Einstein was able to pack more neurons in a given area of cortex.

The Third Paper and The Future   The most recent study concerning Einstein's brain was published in the British medical journal The Lancet (vol. 353, pages 2149-2153) on June 19, 1999. In this paper, the external surface characteristics of Einstein's brain were compared to those from the brains of 35 men (average age, 57 years old).   Unlike the brain of these 35 men, Einstein's brain had an unusual pattern of grooves (called sulci) on both right and left parietal lobes. This particular area of the parietal lobe is thought to be important for mathematical abilities and spatial reasoning. Einstein's brain had a much shorter lateral sulcus that was partially missing. His brain was also 15% wider than the other brains. The researchers think that these unique brain characteristics may have allowed better connections between neurons important for math and spatial reasoning.   Although these results are interesting, it must be remembered that this study had only ONE brain in the experimental group...Albert Einstein's brain. It remains to be seen if other mathematical geniuses also show these distinguishing brain characteristics. Moreover, the study did not investigate the brain at a microscopic level. In other words, the study says nothing about how neurons in these brains were connected and of course, could not tell if there were differences in the way the neurons functioned.   The importance of these differences is still unknown. There are still many questions about how the brain constructs personality, builds intelligence and forms creativity. Further research using modern brain imaging techniques (MRI/PET) that look at the anatomy and function of the brain in living geniuses may reveal what makes these people such giants.

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