Journey to the center of the brain
New look suggests brain's anatomy determines its activity
Hub systems may be frustrating for airline travelers, but a central hub keeps the brain connected and humming, a first-ever wiring diagram of the human brain reveals.
Nearly all of the information transmitted from one brain region to another passes through a core located in the center and back of the brain along the crack that separates the two hemispheres, an international group of researchers reports in the June 30 PLoS Biology.
Earlier research pinpointed an area of the brain called the default network — a group of brain regions that are active when a person is thinking about nothing in particular. The new map of the brain’s anatomy showed that, in fact, the default network also resides in this physical hub, the core of the brain.