Brain of Vladimir Lenin

The research was conducted at the request of the Soviet government, which wanted to prove that Lenin's supposed genius was the result of his brain's superior structure.

[5] Therefore, following his death, Oskar Vogt - a neuroanatomist from the University of Berlin - was requested to conduct histological examinations at the Moscow Brain Research Institute [ru].

[12][13][14] Some of the methodologies adopted by Vogt included the "cutting, mounting, and staining in serial sections the entire brain" to obtain a "a minute parcellation of the cerebral cortex".

[17] The abundance of pyramidal neurons was attributed to Lenin's exceptional intellectual and organizational skills as well as to his rigorous mental training and political activities.

The lack of reliable morphometric and statistical controls limited the significance of the cytoarchitectonic observations, but the finding of association neurons was sufficient to please the Politburo without compromising Vogt's integrity or Germany's relationship with Russia.

Due to Hitler's rise to power, the changing political climate between Germany and Russia was now bringing an end to their cooperation on neuroscientific research.

[18] Contrary to Lenin’s autopsy which found many irregularities related to his deteriorated condition upon the last years of his life, the dissection of his brain for the purpose of physically identifying extraordinary mental prowess was generally unreliable.

[3][19] Today it is of general agreement among neuroscientists that broad concepts of genius or extraordinary mental prowess cannot be pinned down to physical locations in the brain.

[3] Furthermore, upon the conclusion of the dissection of Lenin's brain, there existed many indications expressing perplexity on the matter amongst the neuroscience community as well as regret within Vogt about potentially overexposing himself in his project.

The couple had analysed the supposedly "elite" brains of high-profile figures, but they nevertheless resisted hiring staff based on race, culminating in raids on the KWI building by the Nazi Party.

Vogt’s friend and a Foreign Service official in Germany, Gustav Krupp, eventually helped the former create the German Brain Research Society.

As mentioned previously, Vogt sought to study the brains of those whom he viewed as intellectuals and elite minds with the backing of Germany's Weimar Republic, which wanted to improve relations with Russia.