The shape of the brain can have a profound effect on how we feel, behave and transmit communication signals in the body, a new study revealed Wednesday, challenging the previous notion that our thoughts and Brain activity is caused by billions of interconnected neurons. NBC News.
The study, which was published in the journal The natureconcluded the study by examining brain MRI scans of 255 people. Study participants were also asked to perform tasks such as tapping their fingers or recalling a sequence of images.
The researchers thus collected information on 10,000 different brain maps, collected from more than 1,000 experiments worldwide, to determine the relationship between the shape of the brain and its function.
In the next step, using a computer model in which brain size might contribute to the brain’s electrical activity, the researchers compared this model to existing models of brain activity to understand neuron connectivity as a driver. is associated with brain function.
In the results, the researchers noted that “the comparison showed that the new model provided a more accurate reconstruction of brain activity shown in MRI scans and brain activity maps than the previous model.”
Lead study author James Peng, a research fellow at Monash University in Australia, said: “The size and shape of the pond helps determine the nature of these waves.”
“The geometry is very important because it guides what the wave will look like, which is related to the activity patterns you see when people perform different tasks,” Peng added.
David Van Essen, professor of neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis. “The shape-of-the-mind theory has been around for more than a decade,” Lewis said.
He noted: “But most researchers still subscribe to the classic hypothesis: that each of the brain’s roughly 100 billion neurons, or nerve cells, has an axon, a wire that carries information to other neurons. kind of works, and it enables brain activity.”
“The basic starting hypothesis is that the brain’s wiring is central to understanding how the brain works,” Van Essen said.
Peng said his “research does not diminish the importance of communication between neurons; rather, it suggests that brain geometry plays a more important role in brain function.”
“What the work is showing is that shape has a big effect, but that’s not saying that connectivity isn’t important,” he said.
Peng also highlighted that the brain “shape hypothesis comes with an advantage: It’s easier to measure brain shape than brain wiring, so research focusing more on brain size or curvature may be more difficult to measure.” So new avenues can open up.”
He believed that “a topic worthy of investigation is the possible role of brain morphology in the development of psychiatric and neurological diseases.”
According to Peng, in theory, the speed at which traveling waves propagate through different regions of the brain could affect how people process information. “This, in turn, may contribute to patterns of brain activity associated with diseases such as schizophrenia or depression.”
Peng said the results “remain robust” even after analyzing brain shape at the individual level.
Peng said his research is not conclusive, but he noted that he thinks the new study “strengthens the theory” that the shape of the brain has a greater influence on brain activity than the wiring of neurons.
“We’re pretty sure the influence is really there,” he said.