His nous is legendary : WhenTIMEnamed Albert Einstein its Person of the Century in 1999 , the magazine called the shaggy-coated - hirsute physicist a " Einstein among virtuoso , " whose understanding of the world represented the " embodiment of pure understanding . "

What few masses know , however , is that within a few minute of his death in 1955 , Einstein ’s mental capacity was removed from his skull and snap from unlike angles before it was section into 240 blocks — all to advance the scientific discipline he loved so dearly . Many of the photographs , however , were lost or mislay over the decades . Now analysis of 14 latterly resurfaced photos reveal what we ’ve suspect all along : Einstein ’s physical brainiac , state Doyle Rice atUSA Today , " was better than yours . " Though not at first glance .

According to the study from Florida State University , the pre - dissect brain does n’t initially appear all that different from the mediocre person ’s . " Although the overall size of it and asymmetrical physical body of Einstein ’s brain was normal,“writes study author Dean Falk , an evolutionary anthropologist from Florida State University , " the prefrontal , somatosensory , basal motor , parietal , secular , and occipital cortices were extraordinary . "

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The prefrontal cortex is the part of the Einstein in electric charge of abstract thinking and imagine analysis — responsible for digesting sensory datum before making any decisions . As such , it ’s also the most " strongly implicated " as a sign of intelligence agency . psychoanalysis of these pic revealed that Einstein ’s prefrontal pallium is more complex and possess afar greater aerofoil domain than most the great unwashed ’s , which may explain some of his " singular cognitive abilities,“said Falk .

Sources : TIME , TG Daily , USA Today , WiseGeek