Scaling laws in the mammalian neocortex: Does form provide clues to function?
Abstract
Although descriptions of form have been a mainstay of comparative neuroanatomy, less well explored is the use of quantitative approaches, especially at the cellular level. In the neocortex, many gross and cellular anatomical measures show striking regularities over a wide range of brain sizes. Here we review our recent efforts to accurately characterize these scaling trends and explain them in functional terms. We focus on the expansion of white matter volume with increasing brain size and the formation of surface folds, in addition to principles of processing speed and energetics that may explain these phenomena. We also consider exceptional cases of neocortical morphology as a means of testing putative functional principles and developmental mechanisms. We illustrate this point by describing several morphological specializations at the cellular level that may constitute functional adaptations. Taken together, these approaches illustrate the benefits of a synthesis between comparative neuroanatomy and biophysics.
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Axon diameter and length also increase in larger brains, contributing to the higher cost of neuronal activity.
“Axon diameter and length also increase in larger brains (26), contributing to the higher cost of neuronal activity.”
From Evolution of increased glia–neuron ratios in the human frontal cortex (2006) · cites this paper as [26]
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- Authors
- Harrison, K. H., Hof, P. R., & Wang, S. S.-H.
- Affiliations
- Princeton University (US)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Neurocytology
- Published
- 2002-03
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 3-5
- Pages
- 289-298
- ISSN
- 0300-4864 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-7381
- OpenAlex
- W1568869808
- Cited by
- 78
- References
- 88
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 5.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neurocytology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Developmental Neuroscience › Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- scaling laws, brain size, white matter volume, cortical folding, processing speed, brain energy metabolism, cellular specialization, comparative neuroanatomy
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cell Count, Biological Evolution, Nerve Fibers, Nerve Net, Neurons, Organ Size, Phylogeny, Species Specificity, Neocortex
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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