Your brain is organized like a city...

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	Your brain is organized like a city...

mugofcoffee

9-4-2009 12:43 AM

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/223a574b-fd4c-4df5-a71e-75778a06fc11/58BE8A57-D865-44FE-9C36-4A5E358835A7/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.livescience.com/health/090904-brain-city.html" href="http://www.livescience.com/health/090904-brain-city.html" style="font-size: 11px;">www.livescience.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/health/090904-brain-city.html"><P>By <A href="http://www.livescience.com/php/contactus/author.php?r=editorial">LiveScience Staff</A></P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/health/090904-brain-city.html"><DIV id="ri_imgHolder"><A href="http://www.livescience.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?s=health&c=news&l=on&pic=090904-brain-city-02.jpg&cap=Brains+and+cities%2C+as+they+get+bigger%2C+do+so+based+on+similar+mathematical+rules.+Image+credit:+Credit:+Rensselaer%2FMark+Changizi&title="><IMG alt="brain" src="http://i.livescience.com/images/090904-brain-city-01.jpg" /></A></DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/health/090904-brain-city.html"><DIV id="ri_caption">Brains and cities, as they get bigger, do so based on similar mathematical rules. Image credit: Credit: Rensselaer/Mark Changizi</DIV></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/health/090904-brain-city.html"><P>
"Natural selection has passively guided the evolution of mammalian
brains throughout time, just as politicians and entrepreneurs have
indirectly shaped the organization of cities large and small," said
Changizi, an assistant professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
"It seems both of these invisible hands have arrived at a similar
conclusion: brains and cities, as they grow larger, have to be
similarly densely interconnected to function optimally."
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.livescience.com/health/090904-brain-city.html"><P>
In doing the math, the researchers found common "scaling laws" for
brains and cities on several measures. For example, as the surface area
of a brain or city grows, the number of connectors (neurons or
highways) increased at a similar rate for each. Likewise, a bigger city
needs more highway exits in the same proportion as a bigger brain needs
more <A href="http://www.livescience.com/health/051227_neuron_growth.html">synapses</A>, the things that connect neurons.
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