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Cited by 723Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsNeural dynamics and brain functionFunctional Brain Connectivity Studies

A universal scaling law between gray matter and white matter of cerebral cortex

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Zhang, Kechen, Sejnowski, Terrence J.·2000·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.090504197PMC PMC25878
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Abstract

Neocortex, a new and rapidly evolving brain structure in mammals, has a similar layered architecture in species over a wide range of brain sizes. Larger brains require longer fibers to communicate between distant cortical areas; the volume of the white matter that contains long axons increases disproportionally faster than the volume of the gray matter that contains cell bodies, dendrites, and axons for local information processing, according to a power law. The theoretical analysis presented here shows how this remarkable anatomical regularity might arise naturally as a consequence of the local uniformity of the cortex and the requirement for compact arrangement of long axonal fibers. The predicted power law with an exponent of 4/3 minus a small correction for the thickness of the cortex accurately accounts for empirical data spanning several orders of magnitude in brain sizes for various mammalian species, including human and nonhuman primates.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.090504197

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  • Different mammalian orders have traditionally been pooled in brain allometry studies as if their brains were built according to the same scaling rules.

    “Different mammalian orders have traditionally been pooled together in studies of brain allometry, as if their brains were built according to the same scaling rules (for example, Haug, 1987; Zhang and Sejnowski, 2000).”

    From The human brain in numbers: a linearly scaled-up primate brain (2009) · cites this paper as Zhang and Sejnowski, 2000

  • Larger cortices are increasingly made up of white rather than grey matter.

    “larger cortices are increasingly made up of white rather than grey matter (figure 1a, see also [46,47]).”

    From Embodied cognitive evolution and the cerebellum (2012) · cites this paper as [46]

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 11

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Authors
Zhang, K., & Sejnowski, T. J.
Affiliations
  • Salk Institute for Biological Studies (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037; and Department of Biology, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093
ORCID
Zhang, Kechen
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2000-05-02
Volume
97
Issue
10
Pages
5621-5626
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.090504197
PMC
PMC25878
OpenAlex
W2111692402
Cited by
723
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 19 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 25 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 37 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 40 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 42 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 35
FWCI
6.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
Keywords
gray matter, white matter, cerebral cortex, neocortex, scaling laws, power law, brain size, cortical thickness, mammalian brain evolution, human brain, non-human primates
MeSH terms
Animals, Axons, Cerebral Cortex, Humans, Mammals, Models, Neurological, Models, Theoretical, Nerve Fibers, Primates, Species Specificity

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