January 13, 2006
Why the brain has grey and white matter:
A new paper in PLoS Computational Biology by Quan Wen and Dmitri Chklovskii reports on a computer model that would naturally separate into grey and white matter if asked to produce the optimum design for a brain that needs high interconnectivity and short conduction delays.
Computational models are often good ways of developing theories, and this research might help explain the purpose and role of the different cell types in the brain.
Unfortunately, my maths isn't good enough to grasp the mechanics, but there's some fascinating reading in there nonetheless. Published as an open access article. Share the computational biology love.
Link to 'Segregation of the Brain into Gray and White Matter: A Design Minimizing Conduction Delays'.
Link to PLoS Computational Biology.
