[ad_1]
A new study investigated the differences and similarities between two of the most complex systems in existence, albeit at completely different scales: the cosmos and its galaxies and the brain and its neuronal cells.
They found that while the scale is clearly different, the structure is remarkably similar. In some cases, the two systems seemed more similar to each other than they were to their component parts.
It suggests that very different physical processes can lead to very similar complex and organized structures.
For example, the human brain functions thanks to the network of nearly 70 billion neurons that together make it up. The universe is thought to have at least 100 billion galaxies.
In each system, they are assembled together in a complex web or network, distributed in long strands and nodes that connect them. Those diffusion nodes are familiar to images of the universe and the brain and explain some of the superficial similarities in the images.
But in any system, those wires make up only about 30% of the mass. In each, about 70% of the mass is actually made up of parts that appear to be passive: the water of the brain and the dark energy of the universe.
To investigate these similarities, the researchers compared the way these galactic networks form with sections of the brain. They tried to understand how the issue was spread across two very different networks.
“We calculated the spectral density of both systems. This is a technique often used in cosmology to study the spatial distribution of galaxies”, said Franco Vazza, an astrophysicist at the University of Bologna who collaborated on the study with the neurosurgeon of the University of Verona Alberto Feletti.
“Our analysis showed that the distribution of the fluctuation within the neuronal network of the cerebellum on a scale from 1 micrometer to 0.1 mm follows the same progression as the distribution of matter in the cosmic network but, obviously, on a larger scale. ranging from 5 million to 500 million light years “.
They also looked at the ways in which neutron networks and galaxies connect, again finding remarkable similarities, with the systems appearing more similar to each other than to their component parts. To do this, they compared the average number of connections between each of the nodes and how they cluster together.
“Once again, structural parameters have identified unexpected levels of agreement. Probably, the connectivity within the two networks evolves following similar physical principles, despite the remarkable and evident difference between the physical powers that regulate galaxies and neurons,” he said. called Alberto Feletti.
“These two complex networks show more similarities than those shared between the cosmic network and a galaxy or a neuronal network and the interior of a neuronal body.”
A paper describing the findings, “The Quantitative Comparison Between the Neuronal Network and the Cosmic Web”, was published in the journal Frontiers of physics.
Source link
