Analysis of mammalian brain architecture

Abstract

The mammalian brain is composed of several distinct parts which show different growth in evolution. Clark, Mitra and Wang found that the two main cortices of the brain - the cerebral (neo-) cortex and the cerebellum - show very different growth, and that whereas the ratio of neocortex volume to total brain volume increases with evolution, the cerebellum occupies a constant proportion in different species. Here I compare the surface areas of the two cortices in different species and find that these show a simple proportionality. Contrary to the conclusion drawn by Clark et al., this linear dependence of size implies that the two major cortices increase their computational capacity in parallel, suggesting a functional dependence of the one upon the other.