Fatuzzo Books Blog

What is a genius? Genius is harder to define than intelligence or creativity. One definition: a person with “exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability.” (Oxford dictionary) But great intellectual or other ability defines potential, not achievement. So, we prefer a more general concept: “Some minds are so exceptional that they change the world… But monumental intelligence on its own is no guarantee of monumental achievement…The truest measure of a genius is whether a person’s work resonates through the ages.” (1)

“A person whose work resonates through the ages.” That’s a great description but doesn’t necessarily help decide who the geniuses are. It’s not as “simple” as an IQ test, and there isn’t always consensus on who were geniuses of the past and who are geniuses today. However, most lists include names such as Homer, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Mozart, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Curie, and Einstein.

Genius is also harder to study than intelligence or creativity. Why? Because there are so few true geniuses. Additionally, because many of those recognized as geniuses lived in the distant past, it’s even harder to answer the question: “What is different in his or her brain that makes that person a genius?”

Another question that is difficult to answer: Are there different kinds of geniuses? In other words, are the inner workings of the brains of geniuses in science, technology, and math the same as ones in arts and literature?

Two things appear clear. A high IQ score doesn’t necessarily mean genius, but extreme creativity is a factor. And there are other connections that can be made. For example: “Many creative people are polymaths, as historic geniuses including Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were.” And there is a connection between highly gifted people and mental illness: “Some people see things others cannot, and they are right, and we call them creative geniuses. Some people see things others cannot, and they are wrong, and we call them mentally ill. And some people, like John Nash, are both.” (2)

But all of this is general and raises the question as to whether a scientific study of genius is a hopeless dream? Not quite. New technology is starting to provide clues. As we described in a previous post, brain research involving advanced technologies has shown that creative brains are “wired differently.” The same has been shown in studies of Einstein’s brain. (3) Specifically, it was shown that there is “more connectedness and communication between different areas of Einstein’s brain” and “anatomic and cellular differences.” In simpler terms, “a distinguishing characteristic of Einstein’s brain was how the different lobes and the two hemispheres were more interconnected.”

So, new tools are providing a scientific basis for brain research. And once there is an in-depth, data-based understanding of brain function (including structure and networks) the possibilities are endless: from curing mental illness to increasing creativity to changing the essence of a person to…..

1. Claudia Kalb, “What Makes a Genius? Some minds are so exceptional they change the world. We don’t know exactly why these people soar above the rest of us, but science offers us clues,” National Geographic, May 2017, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/05/genius-genetics-intelligence-neuroscience-creativity-einstein/
2. Nancy Andreasen, “Secrets of the Creative Brain: A leading neuroscientist who has spent decades studying creativity shares her research on where genius comes from, whether it is dependent on high IQ—and why it is so often accompanied by mental illness,” The Atlantic, July/August 2014, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/07/secrets-of-the-creative-brain/372299/
3. Mark Hom, “Beyond Einstein’s Brain: The Anatomy of Genius,” Elsevier SciTech Connect, November 30, 2015, http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/beyond-einsteins-brain-anatomy-genius/

In the last few years, there has been an increased awareness of the importance of advanced brain research, and this has been accompanied by major investments by governments around the globe. So, who are the key players, and what are their goals? We start with our own country.

In support of broader brain research, on April 2, 2013 President Obama launched the so-called “BRAIN Initiative.” It stands for “Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neuro-technologies.” Three government agencies are involved: The National Institutes of Health (NIH), The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and The National Science Foundation (NSF). The White House offered this description of the possible long-term outcomes of the more than one billion dollar BRAIN Initiative: “The BRAIN Initiative has the potential to do for neuroscience what the Human Genome Project did for genomics by supporting the development and application of innovative technologies that can create a dynamic understanding of brain function. It aims to help researchers uncover the mysteries of brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and traumatic brain injury (TBI).” More information can be found on the Web site braininitiative.org.

In addition, a report issued by NIH in June 2014 entitled “Brain 2025, A Scientific Vision” states: “Over recent years, neuroscience has advanced to the level that we can envision a comprehensive understanding of the brain in action, spanning molecules, cells, circuits, systems, and behaviors… The focus [of the BRAIN Initiative] is not on technology per se, but on the development and use of tools for acquiring fundamental insight about how the nervous system works in health and disease.”

But the United States is not alone in large, high priority, billion dollar efforts to understand the human brain. Also in 2013, the European Union launched a major effort, parallel to the U.S. BRAIN Initiative, called “The Human Brain Project.” The main aim of this project, as described on its Web site (humanbrainproject.eu), is to “empower brain research toward understanding the human brain and its diseases to advance brain medicine and computing technology.” Specifically, the European project is focused on helping researchers access and share collections of brain data from different species, thus allowing them to accelerate the understanding of the brain through advanced computer simulations. It is believed this will ultimately lead to the development of targeted new treatments and diagnosis for brain related diseases and trigger new approaches to brain inspired systems for AI (artificial intelligence) and robotics.

Then in 2014, Japan initiated its ten-year Brain/MINDS (Brain Mapping by Integrated Neurotechnologies for Disease Studies) Project. Its goal is to map the primate brain to accelerate understanding of human disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. Although this program is much smaller than its U.S. and European counterparts, it is seen as key because it is based on a unique, genetic primate population which is a closer match to the human brain than the small animals being used in other projects. For more information see the Web site brainminds.jp/en and the October 2014 article in Nature (1)

And one cannot ignore China. The 2016 Chinese R&D five-year plan lists Brain Research as one of the nation’s top priorities, with resources to be channeled through the “China Brain Project.” Although China has lagged the US and Europe in brain research, this focus and the accompanying investment may change that. As noted in an article in Nature in 2016: “China’s neuroscience community is growing — the Chinese Neuroscience Society now has 6,000 members, compared to just 1,500 ten years ago; the country has tens of millions of patients with psychiatric or degenerative brain disease that will facilitate clinical studies; and it has hundreds of thousands of research monkeys. This last factor has already allowed Chinese researchers to take the lead in using gene-editing technologies to produce models of autism and other conditions.” (2)

So, the foundations have been laid, but many things have changed on the world stage since 2013. As far as the US is concerned, the level of government support for science research is a growing issue. If budgets are tight, what should the priority of brain research be? What are the recent results from these initiatives/projects? Does it matter whether the US has a leadership position? These are some of the questions we will address in future posts.

1. David Cyranoski, “Marmosets are stars of Japan’s ambitious brain project: Ten-year brain-mapping effort will use monkeys to study human neural and mental disorders,” Nature, October 8, 2014, https://www.nature.com/news/marmosets-are-stars-of-japan-s-ambitious-brain-project-1.16091
2. David Cyranoski, “What China’s latest five-year plan means for science: Oceanography, brain science and stem cells among research fields that look set to grow,” Nature, March 18, 2016, https://www.nature.com/news/what-china-s-latest-five-year-plan-means-for-science-1.19590#/brain

Humans have explored much of the earth and some of the depths of the oceans, but there is something even more mysterious and powerful which is much closer to us. It is the human brain, the most complex living structure that we know of in the universe! But to date, the human brain has only been explored in a relatively limited fashion.

We know that the human brain inspires or controls not just our actions, but our emotions and personalities, our likes and our dislikes, our beliefs and our cravings. In other words, we know that many observable effects originate from the human brain—physical movements, mental diseases, old-age dementia, cowardice, piety, cruelty, habits, fanaticism, and more. But we have only limited knowledge about which specific structures and/or interconnections within the brain cause such effects, and more important, how. Thus, we are primitive in our trial-and-error approaches to modifying those physical and mental traits considered harmful with things such as drugs or electrical stimulation or surgical interventions.

One thing we do know: The brain is not just a rational computer. It directs the actions and affects the beliefs of an individual, but it varies from one individual to the next. Think about the contradictions created by brains of very different people. The brain of Hitler made him kill seven million of his citizens, mostly because they were Jewish; while the brain of Mother Theresa made her help hundreds of people who were too poor to help themselves, no matter what their race or religion. Genghis Kahn, known as the “scourge of God,” is famous for his extreme acts of cruelty during his conquests in western Europe; while Francis of Assisi practiced charity to all living beings, including (unusual for the times) animals. These are just a few examples of individuals who were led by their brains to live very different lives.

We also know that, controlled by their brains, different people react differently to unusual circumstances, such as “silence and solitude.” This type of environment can spur creativity in some but can lead to insanity in others. And both insanity and creativity can coexist in the same brain as in the case of famous artists like Van Gogh.

The human brain also has caused specific populations to migrate across the globe over time, ultimately populating the whole earth. But not all populations were led to move from their original location. Some preferred to stay where they were, even if the environments were extremely harsh. Why?

And the human brain allows us to transmit ideas and knowledge from one generation to the next. As J. F. Kennedy once said, referring to democracy, “A man may die. Nations rise and fall. But an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”

What would advances and breakthroughs in understanding and controlling the human brain mean for humanity and the business community? The possibilities are vast, and progress is being made. The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser, and Edvard Moser for discovering the networks of cells that form the brain’s navigational system. This fundamental work in neuroscience on a nanoscale could have applications in Alzheimer’s and other diseases, but it is just the beginning. Through brain research, we may find infinite new ways to harness its power and use it—for good or for bad. We do not know yet what they all are, but they will have a major impact on humanity, including human interactions and even business interactions.

So, what are the major brain research programs? What new tools are available for investigating how the brain functions? What are the latest results? We will explore these questions and more in future blogs. If you are interested, check back occasionally and feel free to add your comments or make suggestions for future topics.