2023-05-31 17:13:21
The shape of a person’s brain exerts a far greater influence on how we think, feel, and behave than their intricate neural connectivity. It has been seen by an investigation of the Turner Institute of Brain and Mental Health at Monash University (Australia) after analyzing more than 10,000 different maps of human brain activity.
The study, published today in «Nature», brings together approaches from physics, neuroscience, and psychology to overturn the centuries-old paradigm that emphasizes the importance of complex brain connectivity, instead identifying a previously unnoticed relationship between brain shape and activity.
“The work opens up opportunities to understand the effects of diseases such as dementia and stroke by considering models of the shape of the brain, which are much easier to handle than models of the full range of connections in the brain,” says James Pang. , of the Turner Institute and Monash University School of Psychological Scienceswho argues that the findings greatly simplify the way in which we can study how the brain works, develops and ages.
For more than a century, researchers have believed that the patterns of brain activity that define our experiences, hopes, and dreams are determined by how different regions of the brain communicate with one another through a complex network of trillions of cellular connections.
“But this study reveals that structured patterns of activity are activated throughout almost the entire brain, much like the way a musical note arises from vibrations that occur throughout the entire brain, the entire length of a string.” violin, and not just an isolated segment,” he says.
These findings raise the possibility of predicting brain function directly from its shape.
Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) we have analyzed the eigenmodes, which are the natural patterns of vibration or excitation in a system, where different parts of the system are excited at the same frequency. The eigenmodes they are commonly used to study physical systems in areas such as physics and engineering and have only recently been adapted to study the brain.
“Just as the resonant frequencies of a violin string are determined by its length, density, and tension, the eigenmodes of the brain are determined by its structural properties (physical, geometric, and anatomical), but the specific properties that are most important remain. being the same. a mystery,” explains co-lead author Kevin Aquino of the University of Sydney.
The team, led Alex Providedcompared how eigenmodes obtained from brain shape models could explain different activity patterns compared to eigenmodes obtained from brain connectivity models.
“Using mathematical models, we confirm theoretical predictions that the tight link between geometry and function is driven by wave-like activity that propagates throughout the brain, just as the shape of a pond influences waves of wave that is formed when a pebble falls”, says Fornito.
“These findings raise the possibility of predicting brain function directly from its shape, opening up new avenues to explore how the brain contributes to individual differences in behavior and risk of psychiatric and neurological diseases.”
#shape #brain #matters