A group of international researchers mimicked the formation of mammalian brain convolutions using a gel. They described the procedure in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Her summary was provided by the PhysOrg resource.
Almost everyone knows what the brain looks like. It has convolutions - folded elevations of the bark, limited by furrows. These convolutions are needed to increase the surface of the cerebral cortex. The larger the mammal, the greater its convolutions. For example, a mouse has a brain that is small and smooth, and a person has a large brain with convolutions.
For a long time, scientists tried to figure out how the gyrus of the brain. Some said that they appear as a result of the uneven growth of certain areas of the cortex, while others attributed this process to the migration of neurons. In their new study, scientists decided to imitate the process of formation of the brain gyrus in the laboratory.
Mouse brain (left) and human (right)
Assuming that the white and gray matter have the same density, but different growth rates, the researchers created a computer model of the development of the cerebral cortex. To repeat this in real conditions, they needed two gels, acting as white and gray matter. Then, through a chemical reaction, scientists made the gel grow like the cortex of the brain.
As a result, the external gel expanded faster than the internal one, forming the crust of the cortex — a relief that is observed in the brain of mammals, including humans. The study gave scientists the basis for suggesting that equally dense substances that are tightly attached to each other as they grow lead to a change in the surface of the outer layer, that is, the formation of the convolutions of the brain.
Scientists are constantly studying the work of the brain. So, recently they found in the human brain a mechanism for switching on and off consciousness.
The article is based on materials .
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