Size and Shape of the Cerebral Cortex in Mammals

Hofman, Michel A.

doi:10.1159/000116529

Cited by 196 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 21 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…4, 5, and [13][14][15][16]. This is very close to the exponent of 1.138 for the total number of highway exits (Table 1b), suggesting perhaps that 9/8 may be the theoretical exponent for exits (as well as for number of zip codes and number of public high schools).…”

Section: Number Of Highway Exits and Number Of Neuronal Synapsessupporting

confidence: 65%

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confidence: 99%

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Common scaling laws for city highway systems and the mammalian neocortex

Changizi

Destefano

2009

Complexity

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A variety of scaling laws are known for the mammalian neocortex relating gray matter volume, total number of synapses [1,2], white matter volume [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], number of neurons [6,[10][11][12], surface area [4,5,[13][14][15][16], axon caliber [1,17], and number of cortical areas or compartments [18]. These neocortical scaling laws appear to be a consequence of selection pressure for a sheet-like structure (namely, gray matter) to economically maintain a high level of interconnectedness [1,2,19,20]. We might therefore expect to find similar scaling laws for any sheetlike structure under similar selection pressures, in which case the neocortex would be just an instance of a more general kind of structure.Here, we investigate city highway systems as a potential kind of network which may be driven by similar principles as the neocortex. In contrast to neurons, which are conduits for information-related signals on which brain computations rely, highways are conduits for physical materials and people. But from the perspective of the city as a whole, the materials and people that highways transport are crucial to the large-scale function carried out by the city, and are, in a sense, signals-that one signal is electric and the other physical may not matter in regards to the fundamental principles governing them. In addition to the prima facie analogy between city highway networks and the brain's neural connections, there are several other reasons we chose to examine city highway networks. First, the organization of city highway networks tends to be driven by political and economic forces over decades, rather than being planned in advanced following known principles of highway engineering [21]-i.e., city highways systems are a result of an evolution-like mechanism. Second, cities are under selection pressure to efficiently interconnect via highways and roads. Third, because cities lie on the land they are approximately a surface, or a sheet. Fourth, highway network data are readily available (and our data set consists of 60 U.S. cities varying in population from 10 4 to nearly 10 7 , see Table 2 for raw data). Finally, the organization of city highway systems is interesting in and of itself: nearly half of Earth's 6.6 billion people now live in cities, and cities are becoming ever larger and densely populated. The proper functioning of a city requires that people and materials be quickly moved throughout it. This is a very difficult design problem, one that is magnified by the fact that city population tends to grow much faster than city surface area, and cities tend to increase in population over time, so that the efficient highway network must constantly evolve from the pre-existing one. Identification of scaling laws governing how highway organization scales with city size could potentially lead to better highway systems, and more efficiently running cities.

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Section: Number Of Highway Exits and Number Of Neuronal Synapsessupporting

confidence: 65%

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confidence: 99%

Common scaling laws for city highway systems and the mammalian neocortex

Changizi

Destefano

2009

Complexity

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“…In terms of gross neuroanatomy, pigs have a convoluted or a gyrencephalic cortical surface, superficially resembling the human brain (Figure 1 ;Hofman, 1985), whereas rodents have a small lissencephalic brain. The pig brain, which has human-like vascularization characteristics, is large enough to enable the identification of cortical and subcortical structures by neurosurgery and conventional imaging techniques in living animals (Lind et al, 2007;Sauleau et al, 2009).…”

Section: Neurobiological Similaritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food preferences and aversions in human health and nutrition: how can pigs help the biomedical research?

Clouard

Meunier-Salaün

Val‐Laillet

2012

Animal

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The establishment of food preferences and aversions determines the modulation of eating behaviour and the optimization of food intake. These phenomena rely on the learning and memory abilities of the organism and depend on different psychobiological mechanisms such as associative conditionings and sociocultural influences. After summarizing the various behavioural and environmental determinants of the establishment of food preferences and aversions, this paper describes several issues encountered in human nutrition when preferences and aversions become detrimental to health: development of eating disorders and obesity, aversions and anorexia in chemotherapy-treated or elderly patients and poor palatability of medical substances and drugs. Most of the relevant biomedical research has been performed in rodent models, although this approach has severe limitations, especially in the nutritional field. Consequently, the final aim of this paper is to discuss the use of the pig model to investigate the behavioural and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying the establishment of food preferences and aversions by reviewing the literature supporting analogies at multiple levels (general physiology and anatomy, sensory sensitivity, digestive function, cognitive abilities, brain features) between pigs and humans.Keywords: pig, conditioned learning, eating behaviour, animal model, biomedical applications ImplicationsInvestigation of the behavioural and neurophysiological mechanisms of the establishment of food preferences and aversions can lead to important developments in the context of human nutrition and health. Because the rodent models are not always adequate in this field, there is a need to develop alternative experimental models. Pigs have numerous similarities with humans in terms of the physiology, anatomy, sensory sensitivity, cognitive abilities and brain functions. The aim of this paper is to promote the use of pigs for biomedical research in human nutrition. IntroductionFeeding is a complex behaviour, which can be described as 'the research and consumption of food and drink to maintain vital functions ' (Bellisle, 1999) and to 'fulfil the metabolic needs of the organism ' (Ferreira, 2004). Today, it is also well acknowledged that a high proportion of human food consumption in developed countries appears to be driven by pleasure (for a review, see Lowe and Butryn, 2007) and sociocultural influences. Food consumption is also involved in fundamental metabolic homeostasis regulation, as it controls the supply of energy and nutrients in the organism (Bellisle, 1999). According to Ferreira (2004), feeding behaviour implies that animals learn to consume high-energy foods and to avoid toxic foods. Establishment of food selection implies that, during its first experience with food, the organism memorizes the sensorial characteristics of the food (e.g. taste, odour, texture and visual cues) and the postingestive consequences of its ingestion, and associates these food characteristics with these consequences (Garcia et ...

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“…Furthermore, a considerable body of evidence indicates that it resembles primate more than rat when considering its cortical convolutions, shape and total number of neocortical neurons (Lind et al, 2007). The rat has a lissencephalic, smooth-surfaced cerebral cortex, whereas the pig has a gyrencephalic, folded brain cortical surface with well-defined circumvolutions (Hofman, 1985) (Figure 1).The global aspect of the pig brain differs somewhat from that of primate since the curvature of the telencephalon is less pronounced and the anterior pole is also less developed (Figure 2). Viewed from above, the pig brain has an elongated oval shape with the hemispheres being widest at the posterior third and the occipital pole being larger than the frontal pole.…”

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

The pig model in brain imaging and neurosurgery

Sauleau

Lapouble

Val‐Laillet

et al. 2009

Animal

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The pig model is increasingly used in the field of neuroscience because of the similarities of its brain with human. This review presents the peculiarities of the anatomy and functions of the pig brain with specific reference to its human counterpart. We propose an approximate mapping of the pig's cortical areas since a comprehensive description of the equivalent of Brodmann's areas is lacking. On the contrary, deep brain structures are received more consideration but a true three-dimensional (3D) atlas is still eagerly required. In the second section, we present an overview of former works describing the use of functional imaging and neuronavigation in the pig model. Recently, the pig has been increasingly used for molecular imaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET). Indeed, the large size of its brain is compatible with the limited spatial resolution of the PET scanner built to accommodate a human being. Similarly, neuronavigation is an absolute requirement to target deep brain areas in human and in pig since the surgeon cannot rely on external skull structures for zeroing the 3D reference frame. Therefore, a large body of methodological refinements has been dedicated to image guided surgery in the pig model. These refinements allow now a millimetre precision: an absolute requirement for basal nuclei targeting. In the third section, several examples of ongoing studies in our laboratory were presented to illustrate the intricacies of using the pig model. For both examples, after a brief description of the scientific context of the experiment, we present, in detail, the methodological steps required to achieve the experimental goals, which are specific to the porcine model. Finally, in the fourth section, the anatomical variations depending on the breed and age are discussed in relation with neuronavigation and brain surgery. The need for a digitized multimodality brain atlas is also highlighted.Keywords: pig, neuroimaging, single photon emission tomography, neuronavigation, deep brain stimulation ImplicationsThe pig model is increasingly used in the field of neuroscience because of the similarities of its brain with human. Indeed, aside from the rodent model there is a critical need for a large animal model ethically acceptable, i.e. excluding non-human primates. In this review we present some experiments dealing with the various procedures achievable in the pig model ranging from image-guided brain surgery to functional brain imaging studies. The recent advances in functional imaging data processing pointed out our partial knowledge of pig brain neuro-anatomy and the requirement for a digitalized atlas matching MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and histological resources. IntroductionSwine have been used extensively as a model of human in biomedical researches such as cardiovascular, metabolic and transplantation (Phillips et al., 1982;Larsen and Rolin, 2004;Imai et al., 2006;Groth, 2007). In the last decade, an increasing number of studies in the field of neuroscience has been reported (Lind et ...

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Size and Shape of the Cerebral Cortex in Mammals

Cited by 196 publications

References 21 publications

Common scaling laws for city highway systems and the mammalian neocortex

Common scaling laws for city highway systems and the mammalian neocortex

Food preferences and aversions in human health and nutrition: how can pigs help the biomedical research?

The pig model in brain imaging and neurosurgery

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