Nibbling on Einstein's Brain

Oliver · **Thu Apr 29, 2004 6:58 am Nibbling on Einstein's Brain**

On April 18, 1955, Albert Einstein died, 76 years old. He was hugely popular and widely identified with the figure of scientific genius.

Dr. Thomas S. Harvey removed Einstein's brain at the time of Einstein's death and fixed it rapidly in formaldehyde to preserve the nerve cells before they disintegrated. Since then, the morphological differences of Einstein's brain with 'normal' brains have been studied with unclear results.

Einstein's brain weighed only 1,230 grams (2.71lb), which is far less than the average adult male brain (about 1,400 grams or 3.09lb). It's also reported that the thickness of Einstein's cerebral cortex was thinner than that of five control brains. However, the density of neurons in Einstein's brain was greater.

Do you think a person's intelligence can be measured by means of counting the amount of neurons in the brain?

Paul Marshall · **Sat May 01, 2004 1:23 pm**

Well, this brings us back to the question of Mental Capacity. As I have thought about this over and over I have come to the conclusion that the brain has a certain ability to compact data to add more and more information in the brain. Maybe each person (different, we all are) is able to use this ability to a certain extent that surpasses others' 'ableness' to use this ability and Einstein was one of the few that could do this. After all, he WAS really peculiar and peticular about how he went about his day; he only wore 1 kind of suit each day of the week (I guess because he didn't want to cloud his mind with all of the excess hustle and bustle of everyday life).

Oliver · **Sat May 01, 2004 1:31 pm**

First of all, I'm happy somebody tryed to tackle this post. I was worried it would remain a post that died imediately. Thanks Paul!

Yes, you have thought about this haven't you. That may be true...

Aparently, it's not the size of the brain that makes a person more or less intelligent. Maybe it's the amount of neurons that are created in the brain during our lives...

But then again, what would happen if you could do some Jurrasic Park trick? What would happen if you could take Einstein's DNA and make a perfect clone of him? Would he also be super smart?

Maybe becoming intelligent has something to do with nurture instead of nature...

GhostOfAMemory · **Sat May 01, 2004 5:39 pm**

I think *to some extent* that the amount of intelligence on ahs they are born with. Some infants are smarter than others. Some learn qicker and earlier than others. But of course, if you have an average baby and teach them a lot of stuff they will probably do well academically, or if you have a gifted baby and don't really teach them much they'll probably perform somewhat averagely. I also believe it's been proven that if a baby is read to/spoken to/has music played for them/etc in their early years and even before birth they're reading skills/comprehension skills, etc. are better. so I guess both are factors... but if you have a REALLY smart baby or a really... not smart baby, there's probably not a whole lot you can do to change it. You can't squash genius or add it if it's not present.

Now, concerning cloning, I don't think a clone is really the same person. I think it's kind of like identical twins, you know? Different temperments, personality traits... however I do believe intelligence will be comparable. Also, the way we're raised and the people we're around have SO MUCH impact on the way we turn out as adults, the way we think and behave, our morals and ethics, our likes and dislikes... even the time we live in, I think it's impossible to expect a clone to be even practically the same person as the person they were cloned from.

Monkey · **Sat May 01, 2004 8:02 pm**

i don't think it depends on what your born with. I think that you can increse your iq bye working at it.
148 points

Starbuck · **Sat May 01, 2004 8:55 pm**

Okay, I believe that you can only take in *so* much knowledge. However, once you achieve that point, you slowly begin to forget things. This is a very easy point to achieve, think of all your childhood memories, you don't remember every single day, you remember the big things. The tramatic (sp?) things, you never forget. ((example : I remember what I was doing on September 11, 2001. Ask your parents what they were doing when they found out president Kenedy was assasinated)). I also believe the fewer neural pathways, and fewer cells and brain weight you have, the more information your brain can store, since the space isn't being taken up by useless brain weight that isn't being used. You also have to look at how much of his brain Einstein was using. I may be wrong, but he was using a conciderable amout of his brain, was he not? And further more, look at other people like Stephen Hawkings. I believe his retardation has something to do with how smart he is. Something that shut down certain aspects of his brain turned on others. Does anyone get where I'm going, or have I just confused people?

Paul Marshall · **Sat May 01, 2004 10:41 pm**

GhostOfAMemory · **Sun May 02, 2004 2:41 am**

Starbuck · **Sun May 02, 2004 12:06 pm**

Monkey · **Mon May 03, 2004 11:35 pm**

Seven of Nine · **Wed May 05, 2004 12:30 pm**