While Albert Einstein[1] , considered one of the foremost geniuses of the 20th century, has transformed scientists' understanding of physics and astronomy with his theories, the intellect of Einstein himself has remained misunderstood.


Ever since pathologist Dr. Thomas Harvey[2] harvested the scientist's brain in 1955, researchers have tried to crack the mystery of Einstein's genius by observing that brain.


Now scientists think they've found a clue. A new study, published in the journal Brain [3] on September 24, 2013, suggests that the two hemispheres in Einstein's brain were unusually well connected.


"This study, more than any other to date, really gets at the 'inside' of Einstein's brain[4] ," study co-author Dean Falk, an evolutionary anthropologist at Florida State University, said in a written statement. "It provides new information that helps make sense of what is known about the surface of Einstein's brain."


In the study, Falk and his colleagues looked at a series of unpublished photographs of the brain, taken from many angles. The team analyzed the thickness of the brain's corpus callosum[5] -- the large bundle of fibers that connects the brain's two cerebral hemispheres and allows them to communicate with each other. Then the researchers compared that part of Einstein's brain to the same structure in 15 elderly males and 52 younger men from 1905.


What was found? Compared to the other men, Einstein's corpus callosum was thicker in many areas, which indicates greater connectivity between his brain's two hemispheres and has been linked with higher levels of intelligence[6] .


Einstein's brain holds many other secrets as well. Back in 2012, Falk and colleagues found that Einstein's brain had an extraordinary prefrontal cortex[7] , an area of the brain associated with abstract thinking.


Click through the slideshow below for a complete history of the journey of Einstein's brain --a tale as singular as the great scientist:




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  • 'Dr. Einstein Is Dead'


    Albert Einstein died of internal bleeding in a Princeton, N.J. hospital on April 18, 1955. He was 76 years old.




  • Einstein's Funeral


    Here, Einstein's body is loaded onto a hearse outside a funeral home in Princeton, on the day of his death. His body was moved from the hospital to the funeral home before being cremated in Trenton. His brain was not cremated with the rest of his body--it went missing for years.




  • Finding Einstein's Brain


    In 1978, journalist Steven Levy traced the brain (which had been pickled and placed in a jar) to Dr. Thomas Harvey, pathologist who had worked at the Princeton hospital where Einstein died.




  • Where's The Brain?


    Dr. Harvey (shown here) had removed the physicist's brain with an intent to study it. But whether he had permission to do so remains a matter of controversy.




  • 'The Mind As Matter'


    Dr. Harvey photographed the brain and cut it into about 240 sections for microscopic analysis. Here are two slices of the brain on display at the Wellcome Collection museum in London on March, 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)




  • Where Is The Brain Now?


    Bits of Einstein's brain reportedly now are scattered around the world. Most remain at the University Medical Center in Princeton, and in 2011, about 46 slivers of Einstein's brain went on display at the Mütter Museum and Historical Medical Library in Philadelphia. Slices of Einstein's brain were also recently shown at London's Wellcome Collection museum from March to June 2012 (pictured here).




  • Where Are The Brain Photos?


    Photos of Einstein's intact brain had reportedly been taken by Dr. Harvey, but for years these were considered lost. But recently, 14 photos were found as part of a donation from the Harvey estate to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, Md. In this photo. taken on Sept. 24, 2012, Dr. Phillip Epstein, left, and Steve Landers of the museum's Chicago team look at an image presented as part of an iPad app.




  • Einstein's Brain Gets An App


    The app, created by the National Museum of Health and Medicine's Chicago branch, features microscopic views of Einstein's brain.




  • A Strange Find


    Recent studies have shown that certain regions of Einstein's brain are unusually convoluted. In addition, the parietal lobes are "extraordinarily asymmetrical" and the somatosensory and motor cortices are "greatly expanded in the left hemisphere," Florida State University evolutionary anthropologist Dean Falk told The Huffington Post.




  • More Brain Cells?


    Studies also show that Einstein's brain has more of a type of brain cell known as glial cells than the typical brain. Here, glial cells are seen in a rat brain stained with an antibody.




  • How Much Did His Brain Weigh?


    But despite the differences in brain convolution and glial cells, Einstein's brain was actually average in volume. At about 2.7 pounds, It was slightly below average in weight.




  • Einstein Is In Good Company


    Einstein wasn't the only great thinker whose brain was removed for study--the same is true for Vladimir Lenin and mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss. This April 16, 1997 file photo shows Lenin embalmed in his tomb on Moscow's Red Square. (AP Photo/Sergei Karpukhin)