6/2: Einstein's brain

My wife shared a story with me, following dinner this evening, that she had heard over the radio on her commute home. The story was about the fate of Albert Einstein's brain following his death in 1955. The story my wife told was that the doctor who performed the autopsy on Einstein removed his brain and kept it for years in an effort to study it and determine what exactly attributed to Einstein's high level of intelligence. So, as the story goes, his research led to the discovery that Einstein's brain had more of a certain substance (my wife could not remember the name of this "substance") than the normal human brain which some theorize was the reason behind Einstein's intelligence. Years later, this doctor allegedly tried to return the remaining portions of the brain to Einstein's grand daughter, however, she politely declined and the doctor was left to turn over the parts to Princeton University where it still resides today.

Now, sometimes my wife hears stories, but when she passes them along, certain key facts seem to get skewed or inadvertently omitted in her translation. Just another reason why I adore my wife so much. But, I decided to look up this Einstein story and see how the truth aligned with my wife's version. Surprisingly, other than the aforementioned "substance" and the grand daughter component, she was pretty accurate in her version. What I discovered in my research, is that Dr. Thomas S. Harvey was the Pathologist who performed Einstein's autopsy, and he did, in fact, take Einstein's brain within 7 hours of his death. He dissected the brain into 240 blocks and preserved them in collodian. Harvey was later fired from Princeton University for refusing to give back the brain sections. In 1978, a journalist named Steven Levy rediscovered the brain in Harvey's possession. Apparently, Dr.. Harvey was keeping the brain sections preserved in alcohol in 2 large Mason jars. The substance to which my wife referred were glial cells, which support signal transmission in the brain. Einstein's brain showed a significant more quantity of these cells as compared to the normal male human brain in the left inferior parietal area; part of the region of the brain responsible for incorporating and synthesizing information from multiple other brain regions. Unfortunately, there is no clear proof that Einstein's abundance of these cells had a direct connection to his intelligence. And, unfortunately, I didn't find anything about the grand daughter declining her Grandfather's brain segments.

So, there you have it. Kudos to my wife for re-telling the story with such a high-degree of accuracy (and enthusiasm). Honey, you may have lost the kids early on, probably because they have no idea who Einstein was, but I listened to every word (for once, right?). And, this time, you were right on target!