gwynfryn wrote:
There’s an amazing amount of disinformation in this thread!
One well known difference is that autistic brains have more glial cells, aka “white matter”. It was once thought to have a nutritional function, but then it was discovered that it had an important cognitive function, normally attributed to the better known “grey matter”.
A bit of history for you; when Einstein was autopsied, researchers were allowed a slice of his brain for analysis, and the only significant departure from the norm was this denser white matter. The rest of his brain was buried with his body.
I’ve since come across three claims of having discovered his brain, in a forgotten pickle jar or some such. Said brain was then either frozen and ground down, layer by layer, each being scanned, or cut up into cubes for examination. All three claimed his brain was smaller than average (unlikely given the size of his head) and differently wired, but none made any reference to more glial cells! The authors also denied he was autistic, though the copious biographical info on him makes this conclusion inescapable…
Albert Einstein’s brain was extensively studied by researchers over the world after his death in 1955. Parts of it was sliced up and sent to scientists who had clout. Some pieces were initially decent size, but became smaller as they were recut for others. Many slices of his brain are now missing, as some researchers were less than careful with them and/or became secretive about what they had possession of. I have heard it is roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of his brain mass that is gone. Some samples were lost in lab accidents or simply thrown away years after being studied. Others were sold to eerie collectors who will never give them up. There has been a scientific push to collect and safeguard the remaining pieces for future generations to study. I do know that an organization did scans of the remaining collected pieces and have made a 3-D model of what is left. It will help inventory what is actually missing and from which part of the brain.
06 Jul 2021, 5:55 pm
