Geometric influences on the regional organization of the mammalian brain

A hierarchical, geometry-based method reveals more homogeneous brain regions across multiple mammalian species, emphasizing geometry's role in brain organization.

• Why it matters: Understanding the mechanisms behind brain regionalization is crucial for insights into development and evolution, yet existing methods are mostly descriptive and limited in scope.
• What they did: The authors developed a multiscale parcellation approach based solely on brain geometry, applicable across species including humans, macaques, marmosets, and mice, and extended it to unstudied mammals.
• The result: The approach produces regions more homogeneous than traditional methods and captures a universal, reaction-diffusion-like process linking geometry to molecular patterning, highlighting conserved principles in brain organization.