It's not the individual brain regions but rather their connections that matter: neuroscientists propose a new model of how the brain works. This new view enables us to understand better why and how our brains vary between individuals.
From: Radboud University Nijmegen [Netherlands]
November 3, 2022 -- Our
right hemisphere is for creativity, and the left is for rational thinking. It's
an urban myth that stems from a classical view of how our brain works, namely
that we have several brain regions that all have a specific function. Even
though this 'modular' view of the brain is superseded, it can still be found in
many textbooks.
However, we should look
at brain function differently, according to neuroscientists Stephanie Forkel at
Radboud University and Michel Thiebaut de Schotten at the University of
Bordeaux. Brain functions are not localised in individual brain regions but rather
emerge from the exchange between these regions.
Essential for speaking
and reading
"Look at language
as an example," says Forkel. "Here, the result is greater than just
the sum of the parts. To communicate, you need to very quickly understand what
is said within a given context and consider the emotional intentions that
depend on whom you talk to. If the brain worked in a modular fashion, it would
not allow us to have all these different language computations in such a short
time frame."
Connections can amplify
or reduce brain signals and determine the structure and function of the brain,
according to neuroscientists. There is a strong relationship between the
pattern of connections of brain regions and their activity during cognitive
tasks. It is possible to predict where a function in the brain will appear
based on brain connections. Forkel: "If you look at a children's brain
before they acquire literacy, you see that the white matter, which consists of
nerve pathways, is already connected to the 'classical' reading area."
More insight into brain
differences
An important gap in the
classical view of the modular brain is that it cannot explain the variability
between individuals. "Everyone has a different brain, which isn't anything
like the textbook brain we all know. That's something I realised when I worked
on postmortem brains. Neuroimaging research, most of the time, makes all the
brains of participants fit a standard brain, leading to a loss of insight into
the variability between people. That's a big topic in neuroscience at the
moment," says Stephanie Forkel.
With the new network
approach, scientists can model the variability between our brains, for example,
in the light of evolution. "If you look at the white matter, we see that
older parts in our brain (the 'reptile' brain) are more or less the same. Parts
that are more recently evolved are more variable between us. This puts brain
evolution in a new framework."
Furthermore, the new
approach to investigating brain function could have a large impact on clinical
treatments. "There are patients with brain lesions without any symptoms or
symptoms that you wouldn't expect. In a study, we looked at how the lesions
affected the whole brain network, and we could show that we could use the
network pattern to predict which symptoms patients had or which symptoms they would
develop one year later."
Professional networks
To update the work with
this new model, it will be necessary for researchers to create professional
networks to integrate multiple fields of neuroscientific research, according to
the research team. This will push the current boundaries and lead to advanced
neuroimaging methods, personalised anatomical models, and significant clinical
impact.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221103140804.htm
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