#Kim peek brain scan movie

This study was based on photographs of the whole brain made at autopsy in 1955 by Harvey, and not direct examination of the brain. may explain why Einstein thought the way he did,' said Professor Sandra Witelson who led the research published in The Lancet.

Researchers at McMaster University speculated that the vacancy may have enabled neurons in this part of his brain to communicate better. Also absent was part of a bordering region called the lateral sulcus (Sylvian fissure). In 1999, further analysis by a team at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario revealed that his parietal operculum region in the inferior frontal gyrus in the frontal lobe of the brain was vacant. Photographs of the brain show an enlarged Sylvian fissure. This makes for a lot of 'blind men' trying to understand the same elephant.Īlso consider that Einstein was 76 at the time of his death, so that age-related brain changes, such as thinning of the cerebral cortex, are to be expected.Īmong the chief features that differentiated his brain from others was the amount of glial cells (the 'dark (mysterious) matter') of the brain, an extra gyrus in the parietal lobe- see below from Albert Einstein's brain: In reading the diverse findings, keep in mind that Harvey first photographed Einstein's brain and then cut it into 240 blocks before distribution. There are plenty of descriptions of the years Harvey dodged detection, keeping the brain in a cider keg inside a beer cooler for decades before finally giving sections to neuroanatomists to study. Thomas Harvey stole and ran off with his brain. So what features of Einstein's brain made him so remarkable?Īlthough Einstein had requested to be cremated, at the last minute (unbeknownst to his family), Dr.

#Kim peek brain scan movie

The movie Rain Man was based upon Kim.Īlthough Kim was studied by neuroscientists, no one really knows how he was able to perform his remarkable feats. Also in the case of Kim, he had total recall of everything he ever read and appeared in public to answer arcane questions, perform mental calculations, identify the day of the week associated with any date in history, etc.

Whereas this might be a liability for some people, for Kim, it meant that he could read the left side of a page with one eye and the right side with the other simultaneously and at great speed. In the case of Kim Peek, an autistic savant initially diagnosed as mentally retarded, Kim was born without a corpus callosum connecting the two hemispheres of his brain. But when a brain functions extremely well, it's not always easy to understand why. We've learned to localize specific functions to various areas and structures in the brain. Neuroscience has understood a great deal by the examination of damaged brains. Much data suggests that in susceptible individuals, early child abuse is associated with violent adult behavior, so Fallon believes that a nurturing environment spared him of this outcome. Fallon himself attributes his normality to having had a loving upbringing. James Fallon, who studied the brains of psychopaths only to discover that his own brain fit the classic model! In fact, he then learned that some of his ancestors had actually committed murder. Or suppose the brain appears to be abnormal does this predict abnormal behavior? Consider Dr. Simpson, (however normal his brain may appear upon imaging) probably also has these micro plaques and tau (CTE - chronic traumatic encephalopathy) as a result of his history of head impacts coupled with O.J.'s criminal and irrational actions. Thus, a superficial gaze at brain scan is insufficient to predict function.īased upon his studies, Dr Omalu predicts that O.J. Behaviors of violence, confusion, depression, and memory loss were associated with these players while alive. Bennet Omalu discovered that the brains of NFL (National Football League) players that appeared normal in MRI scans, showed, upon autopsy, scores of tau deposits and damaged neurons. Does this mean behavior will be normal?ĭr. And their wives showed less indication of rage in the limbic system when treated for PMS, so improving the function of these two types of brains with medication saved the marriages. Therefore, one needs more than just a mere look at a brain to predict function.ĭaniel Amen found that certain inattentive husbands showed more activity in the frontal lobe (and better behavior) after being given Ritalin for ADD.