TY - JOUR T1 - Component placement optimization in the brain JF - The Journal of Neuroscience JO - J. Neurosci. SP - 2418 LP - 2427 DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.14-04-02418.1994 VL - 14 IS - 4 AU - C Cherniak Y1 - 1994/04/01 UR - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/14/4/2418.abstract N2 - This computational neuroanatomy study evaluates how well some formalisms derived from combinatorial network optimization theory fit as models for brain structure. At multiple hierarchical levels--brain, ganglion, individual cell--physical placement of neural components appears consistent with a single, simple goal: minimize cost of connections among the components. The most dramatic instance of this “save wire” organizing principle is reported for adjacencies among ganglia in the nematode nervous system; among about 40,000,000 alternative layout orderings, the actual ganglion placement in fact requires the least total connection length. In addition, evidence supports a component placement optimization hypothesis for positioning of individual neurons in the nematode, and also for positioning of mammalian cortical areas. ER -