The complex web of neurons within our brain See strangely similar To the cosmic network of galaxies, said an astronomer and a neurosurgeon from Italy.

The University of Bologna astronomer Franco Vassa and the University of Verona neurosurgeon and Alberto Felletti explained the striking similarities in a new paper published in the journal. Boundaries in physics.

Despite the difference in size, the human brain shows similar complexity and self-organization, the researchers say.

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Neural and cosmic networks

The human brain contains approximately 69 billion neurons, while the observable universe is estimated to contain at least 100 billion galaxies.

In both systems, galaxies and neurons make up only about 30 percent of their mass. Galaxies and neurons regulate themselves in long branching filaments.

Finally, in both systems, the remaining 70% of the mass or energy energy is found to be inactive: water in the brain and dark energy in the observable universe.

“We calculated the spectral density of both systems,” he said Press release. “This is a technique often used in cosmology to study the spatial distribution of galaxies.”

“Our analysis showed that fluctuations within the cerebellum neuronal network ranging from 1 micrometer to 0.1 mm follow the same pattern of distribution of matter in the cosmic web,” but, of course, on a larger scale from 5 million to 500 million light-years.

Expanding our knowledge

What is behind these strange similarities? The researchers say that the same physical principles apply to both incredibly complex structures.

“Although there is a clear and distinct difference between the physical forces governing galaxies and neurons, the connectivity of the two networks follows similar physical properties,” Felty explained.

They both hope that their study will enable us to enhance our knowledge of the evolution of the universe and the human brain by enabling new analytical techniques in cosmology and neuroscience.