Hofman M A
Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Amsterdam.
Brain Behav Evol. 1988;32(1):17-26. doi: 10.1159/000116529.
The geometry of the brain and cerebral cortex in mammals has been studied from an evolutionary perspective and is described in mathematical terms. The volume of the cerebral cortex, in contrast to the cortical surface area, scales to brain volume in a similar way, irrespective of the degree of cortical folding. Among mammals, Cetacea form a subgroup, in that their volumetric data fit an isometric model better than an allometric model. An index of corticalization is presented which contains information about both the mass of interconnective nerve fibers and the degree of intracortical processing. It is shown, furthermore, that a semilogarithmic equation appropriately describes the relationship between mean cortical thickness and brain volume. Finally, allometric equations between brain volume and cortical parameters, which can be used for predictive purposes, are presented.
哺乳动物大脑和大脑皮层的几何结构已从进化角度进行了研究，并以数学术语进行了描述。与皮层表面积不同，大脑皮层的体积以类似的方式与脑容量成比例，而与皮层折叠程度无关。在哺乳动物中，鲸目动物形成一个亚组，因为它们的体积数据更符合等距模型而非异速生长模型。本文提出了一个皮层化指数，该指数包含有关相互连接神经纤维质量和皮层内处理程度的信息。此外，还表明半对数方程能恰当地描述平均皮层厚度与脑容量之间的关系。最后，给出了可用于预测目的的脑容量与皮层参数之间的异速生长方程。
