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Creative Thought and the Structural Organization of Cerebral Cortical Formations in Outstanding Scientists

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Objectives. To study the characteristics of the cytoarchitectonic structure of the prefrontal cortex, the upper parietal cortex, and Broca’s speech motor area of the lower frontal cortex of the brains of two prominent Russian scientists as compared with the analogous cerebral cortex of men in a control group of the same age. Materials and methods. The study was carried out using series of frontal paraffin sections of the brains of an outstanding physiologist (86 years old) and a physicist (78 years old), as well as a control group of men of the same age group. Sections were stained with cresyl violet by the Nissl method. Morphometric indicators were studied using a Leica image analysis system (Germany): neuron size was determined, along with neuron and glial cell densities. Results. Differences in the neuronal organization of the study areas of the cerebral cortex of prominent scientists were found, apparent as significantly more marked radial striation and horizontal stratification of the cortex. Conclusions. The sizes of pyramidal neurons and the numbers of neurons surrounded by satellite glia in the cerebral cortex of prominent scientists were significantly greater than those in the brains of men in the control group.

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Correspondence to I. N. Bogolepova.

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Translated from Zhurnal Nevrologii i Psikhiatrii imeni S. S. Korsakova, Vol. 122, No. 7, pp. 111–114, July, 2022.

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Bogolepova, I.N., Agapov, P.A. Creative Thought and the Structural Organization of Cerebral Cortical Formations in Outstanding Scientists. Neurosci Behav Physi 53, 308–312 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-023-01426-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-023-01426-4

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