Scientific studies

The lateral sulcus (Sylvian fissure) in a normal brain.
In Einstein's brain, this was truncated

Harvey noticed immediately that Einstein had no parietal operculum in either hemisphere. Photographs of the brain show an enlarged Sylvian fissure; clearly Einstein's brain grew in an interesting way. In 1999, further analysis by a team at McMaster University in Hamilton Ontario, Canada revealed that his parietal operculum region in the inferior frontal gyrus in the frontal lobe of the brain was vacant. Also absent was part of a bordering region called the lateral sulcus (Sylvian fissure). Researchers at McMaster University speculated that the vacancy may have enabled neurons in this part of his brain to communicate better. "This unusual brain anatomy...(missing part of the Sylvian fissure)... may explain why Einstein thought the way he did," said Professor Sandra Witelson who led the research published in The Lancet. This study was based on photographs of Einstein's brain made in 1955 by Dr. Harvey, and not direct examination of the brain. Einstein himself claimed that he thought visually rather than verbally. Professor Laurie Hall of Cambridge University commenting on the study, said, "To say there is a definite link is one bridge too far, at the moment. So far the case isn't proven. But magnetic resonance and other new technologies are allowing us to start to probe those very questions".[5]

Scientists are currently interested in the possibility that physical differences in brain structure could determine different abilities.[5] One famous part of the operculum is Broca's area which plays an important role in speech production. To compensate, the inferior parietal lobe was 15 percent wider than normal.[6] The inferior parietal region is responsible for mathematical thought, visuospatial cognition, and imagery of movement.