Complex network theory and the brain

Abstract

The first clear, recognizably scientific representations of the human brain were the
\ndrawings and engravings of the Renaissance anatomists. These prototype anatomical
\nmaps of brain organization demonstrated a physical structure somewhat
\nwalnut-like in appearance: an approximately symmetrical pair of deeply wrinkled
\nlobes connected to each other by a central bridge of tissue. More extensive
\nand detailed dissection of the human brain revealed that its convoluted surface
\nis thinly covered (less than 3 mm) by a layer of so-called grey matter—
\nthe cortex; and that anatomically separated regions of cortical grey matter are
\nextensively interconnected to each other (and to subcortical grey matter nuclei)
\nby axonal projections that are bundled together to form macroscopically visible
\nwhite matter tracts, including the major white matter tract linking the two
\ncerebral hemispheres.