A new theory is emerging that Albert Einstein’s extraordinary intelligence was due to a highly developed corpus callosum, the “interface” between the brain’s hemisphere’s:
A new analysis technique that compared Albert Einstein’s brain to others of the period shows the left and right cerebral hemispheres of the famous scientist’s brain were unusually well connected to each other. This connectivity may have contributed to his brilliance, according to Florida State University evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk.
Falk was part of a research team that investigated Einstein’s corpus callosum, the large bundle of fibers that connects the two cerebral hemispheres and facilitates interhemispheric communication in the brain. The findings appear, appropriately, in the journal Brain.
IMO this study leans too heavily on the “hardware” of the brain, its morphology, and too little on the “software” of the brain, the connections that develop over time. In my view in all likelihood intelligence is a consequence of a compicated interplay between hardware and software. The old “nature vs. nurture” discussion although I’d phrase it a bit differently. I suspect that extremely high intelligence will be very hard to nail down.
However, there’s no need to speculate. If Einstein’s brilliance was a consequence of the congenital structure of his brain, then genetic testing should be able to shed light on the discussion. I strongly suspect it’s a line of inquiry that will not bear fruit.
It’s that tricky business of correlation and causation again. Studies have been done (sorry, no cite) into the ways in which hardware optimizes in response to certain activities. Playing a musical instrument has been said to optimize the connective capacity of the corpus callosum over time, something along the lines of the way in which marathon running optimizes circulatory efficiency.
In other words, I’m with you on this one.
Genetic testing followed by proper Federal regulation could yield Progress, moving Society Forward. Much care will need to be taken, however to avoid past mistakes as allowing inflammatory right wing buzzwords to enter the conversation. i.e. (eugenics, population control, abortion, euthanasia, sterilization, central planning, elitism)
All necessary for the Fabian Improvement of Society,,, but,,, shhh.
Gray Shambler
From what I’ve read (in the popular press, I’m not secretly working at John Hopkins) it’s a dynamic process, with hardware (physical brain) affecting but also affected by, environment (life experiences).
The computer analogy holds up pretty well if you think in terms of the life cycle of a product. You start with hardware and software, and over the course of a life the hardware changes a bit and the software changes. And eventually someone spills coffee on your keyboard and you’re dead.
I agree with you on this. Nearly all of these claims dead end pretty quickly. My best guess (influenced by 2 in the morning discussions with my neurosurgeons) is that we will find that that different kinds of intelligence will derive from different hardware changes in the brain, but you will still usually need the environmental factors to see it expressed.
Steve
That old saying that ‘practice makes perfect,’ has some validity in reinforcing brain pathways. For, repeatedly doing something, reinforces the neural pathways involved with the practice. That’s how habits are made stronger or broken — by what action a person decides to take over a period of time.
Also, extreme intelligence is often hampered by low emotional intelligence. Although, these people with high IQ’s have excellent hardware to process information, they often lack the emotional skills or foresight to cope or adapt well with life outside their intellectual bubble.
I’ve always thought of the brain, though, as the last frontier of the body, in trying to figure out it’s full breathe of functions, as well as unique particularities manifested in the behavior and thought processes of people.