Neural basis of genius talent

• Project/Area Number: 25540058
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Cognitive science
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: KITAZAWA Shigeru 大阪大学, 生命機能研究科, 教授 (00251231)
• Research Collaborator: KIMURA Ikko
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2015)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥870,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥2,210,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥510,000)
• Keywords: 天才脳 / fMRI / DTI / 多次元尺度法 / 天才 / 素数判断課題 / 島 / 天才の脳 / DTI法 / コネクトーム / 機能的結合

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Where does genius talent reside in the brain? The brain of Einstein and that of Gauss are reported to have extremely developed gyri in the inferior part of the parietal cortex. In this study we aimed to elucidate features of the brain of geniuses by using multidimensional data from anatomical and functional imaging of the brain. We used data from a public database and those we actually obtained from volunteers and showed that our proposed group comparison method based on multidimensional scaling was effective. To search for the location where genius talent in mathematics would reside, we further invented a task that required to judge whether a number is a prime number or not. By examining both functional and anatomical images we suggested that a network between the right antero-ventral part of the insula and the lateral part of the intra-parietal sulcus is a good candidate for the mathematical talent.