Sandra Witelson facts for kids
Sandra Freedman Witelson is a Canadian scientist who studies the brain. She is famous for looking at parts of Albert Einstein's brain. She also studies how male and female brains might be different, how being left-handed or right-handed affects the brain, and other brain functions.
Dr. Witelson and her team have the world's largest collection of "normal" human brains. As of 2006, they had 125 brains. This collection is kept at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
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Brain Research
Studying Albert Einstein's Brain
Dr. Witelson received three parts of Albert Einstein's brain. This happened after she was contacted by Dr. Thomas Stoltz Harvey. He was the doctor who took Einstein's brain after he passed away in 1955. Dr. Harvey preserved the brain, took pictures, and made slides from it. He then shared small pieces for research.
Years later, Dr. Harvey heard about Dr. Witelson's brain collection. He sent her a message asking if she would like to study Einstein's brain. She said yes!
Her findings were published in a paper in 1999. She found that a part of Einstein's brain, called the inferior parietal region, was 15% wider. She also noted that a groove in his brain, called the lateral sulcus, was shorter than normal. The parietal lobe helps with seeing and understanding space and navigation. A shorter sulcus might mean more parts of the brain were connected. Dr. Witelson thought these differences might have helped Einstein think better in these areas.
Brain Differences from Birth
In 1973, Dr. Witelson looked at how brains are shaped differently on each side in newborn babies. She discovered that the brain's shape and how it works are already different on each side right from birth. This is called anatomical and functional asymmetry.
How Male and Female Brains Differ
In 1976, Dr. Witelson published a paper about how six-year-old boys and girls use their brains when reading. She found that boys often use only one side of their brain, while girls use both sides for the same task.
She also found that female brains had a thicker corpus callosum. This is a bridge that connects the two halves of the brain. The thicker part was in the area linked to language skills. Another study showed that women have more brain cells in the language part of their brain than men.
Dr. Witelson also noticed differences in the amygdala. This brain part becomes more active when someone is stressed. In men, the amygdala sends stronger signals to areas that control body movements. In women, it signals more to the hypothalamus, which controls things like breathing and heart rate.
Dr. Witelson also did a study on brain size and intelligence. She studied 100 volunteers who were healthy but very sick. They agreed to have their brains measured after they passed away. She also collected a lot of information about them. Her research showed that, generally, people with larger brains performed better on intelligence tests.
She also found that brain size decreased with age in men between 25 and 80 years old. However, for reasons not yet known, age did not affect brain size much in women. For women, verbal and spatial intelligence were linked to brain size. But for men, verbal intelligence was better only for those who were right-handed. This is likely because of how the brain is shaped differently on each side. Spatial ability in men did not change based on brain size.
About Her Life
Sandra Witelson was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec. She now lives in Hamilton, Ontario. She is a professor at McMaster University's Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. She works in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences. She earned her PhD degree from McGill University.
See also
In Spanish: Sandra Witelson para niños
