The famous 19th century forensic scientist Cesare Lombroso claimed that genius is an abnormal brain activity bordering on epileptoid psychosis. “Genius is brain damage,” through Svyatoslav, director of the Institute of the Human Brain Medvedev.
Fools, wise men, geniuses
It is well known that depending on mental abilities humanity is divided into ordinary, smart and stupid people, and also – geniuses. For a long time, scientists have assumed that everything depends on some anatomical features of the thinking apparatus, and tried hard to find them. The first three groups have no differences. could not be identified, we decided to take up geniuses.
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Recognized scientific authorities set about measuring brain volume great people, weigh it, count the number of convolutions. The results were the most contradictory: one of the brilliant personalities had a very large brain, someone very small. Most Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev possessed a large brain (of those studied): his weight – 2012 grams, which is almost 600 grams more than average. But Anatole France’s brain is almost a kilogram lighter than Turgenev’s. But who it will be claimed that Turgenev wrote twice as well Fransa!
In women, the brain was on average 100 grams lighter than the male, although there were persons among them, not only not inferior, but also much superior to men in mind. And interestingly, the biggest brain – 2222 grams – possessed by a person whom others around him unanimously considered foolish.
So the hypothesis that mental abilities was refuted directly depend on the size of the brain. But its authors proceeded from It would seem logically obvious: the larger the brain, the more nerve cells that can perform more complex tasks. But it was not taken into account that nerve cells work in cell ensembles with a certain hierarchical structure.
Then, to assess genius, another parameter was proposed – the number furrows and convolutions on the surface of the cerebral cortex. But here too scientists were disappointed: the cortex of the geniuses was not a bit more prominent, and there were no more convolutions on it than in ordinary people.
Pantheon of brains
In the late 1920s, the government set Soviet scientists “task of the century”: figure out how to achieve so that “any cook could rule the state.” Other in words, is it possible to grow people with exceptional mental abilities.
To conduct relevant research, the famous neurologist, psychiatrist and psychologist academician Bekhterev suggested creating in Leningrad, the so-called “Pantheon of the brain”, where flasks with national heritage brains of famous Soviet people. He even wrote a draft decree according to which the brains of the “great” after them deaths had to be transmitted without fail “Pantheon”.
The scientist himself suddenly died in 1927 with the mysterious circumstances, but his idea survived. At the initiative of the People’s Commissar health care Semashko in Moscow, where since 1924 already existed laboratory for the study of the brain of Lenin, opened the institute, where they became to transfer the brains of party and government leaders, scientists, literature and art. In 1934, for example, it was reported that The scientific team of the Institute is studying the brains of Clara Zetkin, A.V. Lunacharsky, Academician M.N. Pokrovsky, V.V. Mayakovsky, Andrey Bely, Academician V.S. Gulevich. Then the meeting replenished with brains K.S. Stanislavsky and singer Leonid Sobinov, Maxim Gorky and poet Eduard Bagritsky et al.
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Before getting to the table to a scientist for a detailed study, the brain was subjected to preparatory research. It lasted about a year. First, the brain was divided using a macrotome – a machine, reminiscent of a guillotine, into parts that were “compacted” in formalin and embedded in paraffin to form blocks. Then using all the same their macrotomes were divided into a huge number – up to 15 thousand – slices 20 microns thick.
However, many years of anatomical research the secret of genius never disclosed. True, the reports recorded that everything outstanding brains put together “lost” to the main exhibit pantheon – to the brain of Vladimir Ilyich. But it was no longer science, but ideology.
The brain of the leader of the revolution was removed immediately after his death in 1924 year. For more than ten years, he carefully studied under microscope German professor Oscar Vogt, in front of whom was tasked with proving that Lenin was not just a genius, but superman.
The leader’s “gray matter” by weight is nothing special imagined, therefore, Vogt focused on its structure. On the the first stage, he said that the “material base” of Ilyich’s brain “significantly richer than usual.” And then he made a presentation in which claimed: “The brain of Vladimir Ilyich is distinguished by the presence of a very large and numerous pyramidal cells, from the layer of which consists of the cerebral cortex – “gray matter” – just as the athlete’s body is characterized by highly developed muscles … Anatomy Lenin’s brain is such that it can be called “associative athlete. ”
But Vogt’s colleague Walter Spielmeier criticized the report, stating that in the brain of dementia people also found pyramidal cells of large size. Since 1932, the secret question the leader’s geniuses have ceased to be discussed publicly.
The painstaking long-term research of the Institute of the brain they didn’t give the desired results; rather, they even moved away from the solution secrets.
Ingenious slow-thinking
It is established that an ordinary person “exploits” only one a tenth of your brain. It is logical to assume that geniuses “supreme commander” is working to its fullest. It turned out, no! Not only are they convoluted even less, so they also have lower, primitive and evolutionary ancient parts of the brain that ordinary citizens are calm are sleeping.
To such an unexpected conclusion neurophysiologists John Mitchell and Allan Snyder of the Australian Brain Research Center National University of Canberra. Several years they investigated people with phenomenal abilities with using the installation for positron and nuclear resonance imaging, allowing you to see which parts of the brain work during processing information from the senses.
It turned out that between the moment when the retina falls lens-focused image, and conscious perception Seen passes only about a quarter of a second. Over this time an ordinary person automatically comprehends the information. But, processing it, crosses out most of the information received, leaving a general impression of what he saw. Genius perceives everything fantastically detailed. It’s the same with hearing: an ordinary person appreciates the whole melody, and the genius hears individual sounds. It turns out that the secret of genius lies in the “wrong” work brain – he focuses on details. Which allows him draw brilliant conclusions.
American counterparts of Australian neurophysiologists, several years studying the functioning of the brain of people with a very high level of the intellect inherent in geniuses have established that such individuals think slower than ordinary people and therefore are more likely to come to a truly ingenious solution. This is due to the fact that in the zone brain, which is responsible for the perception of visual and sensual information, they have an increased concentration of NAA molecules. It is these molecules that are necessary for the formation of unusual intelligence and extraordinary creative thinking.
However, to the surprise of experts, the movement of NAA in the brain individuals with very high IQ (i.e. geniuses) occur slower than their less intelligent counterparts. In particular, According to the researchers, Albert Einstein was a habit think over any question for a long time and invariably find ingenious decision. He had such a feature since childhood, he was even called slow-witted.
Americans describe the work of the brain of geniuses in this way. NAA molecules contained in the tissues of the gray matter, which consists of neurons. Communication between them is carried out by means of axons (processes nerve cells conducting nerve impulses from the cell body to innervated organs or other nerve cells) that are part of the white matter. In this case, the average people axons are covered with a thick fatty membrane that allows the nerve impulses move faster. In geniuses, this fatty membrane is extremely thin, due to which the advancement of pulses is very slow.
Scientists believe that most geniuses from infancy any one area of the brain develops excessively due to “de-energizing” others. She – the most “capable” – is increasing, begins to dominate the rest and eventually turns into strictly specialized. And then a person begins to surprise or visual memory, or musical abilities, or chess talents. And in ordinary people, all areas of the brain develop evenly.
A recent brain study confirms this. Albert Einstein. Areas of the brain that are responsible for mathematical abilities, he has been increased. And not intersected by a gyrus limiting other zones like this observed in ordinary people. Therefore, it is likely that Einstein’s “mathematical neurons, taking advantage of the lack of boundaries, captured cells from neighboring zones, which, remaining independent, would do a completely different job.
So, now the nature of genius is known and you can to artificially grow geniuses?
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“Each of us has extraordinary abilities, and they can be awakened in any one area, that is, done human genius. Over the next ten years as a result of further studies will reveal which parts of the brain need to be included and off to make of a man for example Leonardo da Vinci or Pythagoras, – says one of the co-authors of the sensational discovery Professor Allan Snyder. – But human nature itself does not allow do this because “brilliant idiocy” in one very narrow she does not need an area. Higher brain realizes full the futility of too detailed information and leave it in subconscious mind. Genius is a deviation from the norm, and here the brain rebels against idiocy. ”
Australia Time Einstein
