The brain's best kept secret is its degenerate structure
Open accessAbstract
Degeneracy is defined as multiple sets of solutions that can produce very similar system performance. Degeneracy is seen across phylogenetic scales, in all kinds of organisms. In neuroscience, degeneracy can be seen in the constellation of biophysical properties that produce a neuron's characteristic intrinsic properties and/or the constellation of mechanisms that determine circuit outputs or behavior. Here, we present examples of degeneracy at multiple levels of organization, from single-cell behavior, small circuits, large circuits, and, in cognition, drawing conclusions from work ranging from bacteria to human cognition. Degeneracy allows the individual-to-individual variability within a population that creates potential for evolution.
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Biological systems are inherently degenerate.
“Biological systems are inherently degenerate [14-16]”
From A feature and not a bug: Replication failures can lead to new biology (2026) · cites this paper as [14]
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Cites
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Self-citationHow multiple conductances determine electrophysiological properties in a multicompartment model
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Self-citationCausal reductionism and causal structures
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A feature and not a bug: Replication failures can lead to new biology
Marder, E. (2026) · Current Opinion in Neurobiology · doi:10.1016/j.conb.2026.103268
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- Authors
- Albantakis, L., Bernard, C., Brenner, N., Marder, E., & Narayanan, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Inserm (FR)
- Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (IL)
- Brandeis University (US)
- Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IN)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2024-10-02
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 40
- Pages
- e1339242024
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC11450540
- OpenAlex
- W4403110471
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 24 · 2025: 10
- FWCI
- 1.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- HHS | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH046742-26)
- HHS | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R35 NS097343)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › Philosophy and History of Science
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Keywords
- degeneracy, brain structure, neural circuits, interindividual variability, evolution, phylogenetic scale, cognition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Brain, Cognition, Biological Evolution, Humans, Models, Neurological, Nerve Net, Neurons
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