RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Component placement optimization in the brain
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 2418
OP 2427
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.14-04-02418.1994
VO 14
IS 4
A1 Cherniak, C
YR 1994
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/14/4/2418.abstract
AB 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.