Introducing the brain: mammal connectivity (Introduction)

by David Turell , Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 15:12 (1584 days ago) @ dhw

DAVID: All mammals have the same connectivity:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-mri-scans-brains-mammals-humans.html

QUOTES: "Researchers at Tel Aviv University, led by Prof. Yaniv Assaf...conducted a first-of-its-kind study designed to investigate brain connectivity in 130 mammalian species. The intriguing results, contradicting widespread conjectures, revealed that brain connectivity levels are equal in all mammals, including humans."

"We found that variations in connectivity compensation characterize not only different species but also different individuals within the same species," he says.

"'Our study revealed a universal law: Conservation of Brain Connectivity," Prof. Assaf concludes. "This law denotes that the efficiency of information transfer in the brain's neural network is equal in all mammals, including humans. We also discovered a compensation mechanism which balances the connectivity in every mammalian brain. This mechanism ensures that high connectivity in a specific area of the brain, possibly manifested through some special talent (e.g. sports or music) is always countered by relatively low connectivity in another part of the brain."

dhw: A remarkable discovery. It emphasizes individuality – which must apply to all our fellow animals and not just ourselves – but it also raises fundamental questions concerning the causes of individuality. How much is caused by differences in the brain, and how many of the differences in the brain are caused by external factors? And that’s without even considering the possibility of a soul!

Considering evolution, not a surprise. There is a degree of plasticity in all brains. We train dogs, horses, etc.