3D Brain Structure

The brain is wired in a 3D grid structure, landmark study finds

March 30, 2012

(Vejam video da Science ao final)

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Neighborhood structure of cerebral pathways. A curved sheet of interwoven orthogonal pathways (Credit: Van J. Wedeen, et al./Science)

The brain appears to be wired in a rectangular 3D grid structure, suggests a new brain imaging study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

“Far from being just a tangle of wires, the brain’s connections turn out to be more like ribbon cables — folding 2D sheets of parallel neuronal fibers that cross paths at right angles, like the warp and weft of a fabric,” explained Van Wedeen, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and the Harvard Medical School.

“This grid structure is continuous and consistent at all scales and across humans and other primate species.”/.../