Amazing stuff! How human brains maybe different from those of our closest relatives, i.e. apes!
"... A team led by researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland used advanced data analysis techniques on top of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to analyze brain activity in humans, mice, and macaques.
Comparing the resulting brain 'traffic maps', the researchers found that the human brain uses multiple parallel pathways to shift information from one region to another, whereas the mice and macaque brains use just single channels.
"What's new in our study is the use of multimodal data in a single model combining two branches of mathematics: graph theory, which describes the polysynaptic roadmaps; and information theory, which maps information transmission (or traffic) via the roads," ...
"What's new in our study is the use of multimodal data in a single model combining two branches of mathematics: graph theory, which describes the polysynaptic roadmaps; and information theory, which maps information transmission (or traffic) via the roads," ...
What's more, the researchers discovered that these parallel pathways are as unique as fingerprints: studying the particular way that information flows around a brain can distinguish individual nervous systems. ..."
"... To achieve this, the researchers used open-source diffusion (DWI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from humans, macaques, and mice, which was gathered while subjects were awake and at rest. The DWI scans allowed the scientists to reconstruct the brain “road maps”, and the fMRI scans allowed them to see different brain regions light up along each “road”, which indicated that these pathways were relaying neural information. ...
“Such parallel processing in human brains has been hypothesized, but never observed before at a whole-brain level,” ..."
“Such parallel processing in human brains has been hypothesized, but never observed before at a whole-brain level,” ..."
From the abstract:
"Brain communication, defined as information transmission through white-matter connections, is at the foundation of the brain’s computational capacities that subtend almost all aspects of behavior: from sensory perception shared across mammalian species, to complex cognitive functions in humans. How did communication strategies in macroscale brain networks adapt across evolution to accomplish increasingly complex functions? By applying a graph- and information-theory approach to assess information-related pathways in male mouse, macaque and human brains, we show a brain communication gap between selective information transmission in non-human mammals, where brain regions share information through single polysynaptic pathways, and parallel information transmission in humans, where regions share information through multiple parallel pathways. In humans, parallel transmission acts as a major connector between unimodal and transmodal systems. The layout of information-related pathways is unique to individuals across different mammalian species, pointing at the individual-level specificity of information routing architecture. Our work provides evidence that different communication patterns are tied to the evolution of mammalian brain networks."
More parallel 'traffic' observed in human brains than in animals (Source: EPFL) In a study comparing human brain communication networks with those of macaques and mice, EPFL researchers found that only the human brains transmitted information via multiple parallel pathways, yielding new insights into mammalian evolution.
Evidence for increased parallel information transmission in human brain networks compared to macaques and male mice (open access)
In the mouse and macaque brains, information was sent along a single “road”, while in humans, there were multiple parallel pathways between the same source and target.
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