Evolution as the blind engineer: wiring minimization in the brain (Abstract only)

ABSTRACT

Human brain is a network containing hundred billion neurons, each communicating with several thousand others. Neuronal communications are implemented by biological wiring, which draw on limited resources such as space, time and energy. This suggests that evolution must have solved VLSI-design-like problems. We analyzed multiple features of brain architectures and found that they could be explained as solutions to optimal design problems. We found examples of optimization in component placement, branched routing, overcoming wiring congestion, and interconnect width variation. Such approach leads to a systematic view of the brain architecture, which should help understand brain function.