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"Our study revealed a universal law: Conservation of Brain Connectivity," Prof. Assaf concludes. "This law denotes that the efficiency of information transfer i
by jonnycomputer 6y ago
"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."
I thought this was a little over the top. Its nothing like, say, the laws of gravitation. Its a regularity observed between species in a specific taxon on a specific planet at a specific time. And it was just one study.
Still, I think the research is really cool. And I wonder whether this is an emergent property of how mammalian brains develop, or whether the regularity is the result of evolutionary pressure (because, i.e. there is selection for a specific connectivity profile).
- opwieurposiu 6y agoIf someone gets split brain surgery, does this law mean they stop being a mammal? Personally I think you should get your nipples removed if you want to stop being a mammal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain
- darkerside 6y agoYou do stop having a typical mammalian brain. This seems no more subjective than Moore's Law, for one, or Conway's Law for another.
- draw_down 6y agoHumans typically have two arms, if one of yours gets chopped off you don't stop being human
- tgb 6y agoIt's a good question, but the article claims there's a compensation: "when connectivity between the hemispheres is high, connectivity within each hemisphere is relatively low, and vice versa". There's no reason that couldn't apply to someone with a split brain or a single hemisphere, at least after given time to adapt to the surgery.
- wwwwewwww 6y agoMarsupials and monotremes lack the corpus callosum that facilities communication between left and right brain in placental mammal, so it is as if they already had this surgery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_callosum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_callosum This seems to put into question their statement about "all mammals", but I haven't read the article, so maybe they actually mean placental mammals only. Monotreme mammals don't have nipples.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- api 6y ago"There are very few laws in biology." This is something a bio professor told me long ago.
- jonnycomputer 6y agoMost laws in biology or evolutionary theory are proposed by philosophers of science or by scientists trying to impress philosophers of science. But in this matter I am deeply influenced by Elizabeth Lloyd's book "The Structure and Confirmation of Evolutionary Theory" (https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691000466/the-structure-and-confirmation-of-evolutionary-theory https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691000466/th...)
- yesenadam 6y agoElisabeth* I've read almost all her books and papers and she is awesome! Such an inspiring quality of thought and writing. And the way she deals with critics on her site is exemplary.