Perhaps you don't know that a study by the EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland (published some time ago on Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience) revealed that human brain structures operate up to 11 dimensions.
“We found a multidimensional world that we would never have imagined,” explains the neuroscientist Henry markram, director of the Blue Brain Project (which conducted the research) and professor at EPFL.
A multidimensional universe inside the brain
The images seek to convey something beyond imagination: a realm of multidimensional structures and places. On the left is a digital replica of a portion of the neocortex, which is the most advanced region of the brain. Shapes ranging from 1 to 7 dimensions and beyond. The “black hole” in the center symbolizes a complex of multidimensional spaces or cavities.
In the study, the researchers revealed that the networks of neurons contained in such cavities provide the missing link between neural structure and function.
“There are hundreds of millions of these objects, even in a small spot in the brain, up to seven dimensions. We have discovered structures of up to eleven dimensions in some networks,” Markram said.
The math wasn't enough
Traditional mathematical views, according to these studies on the human brain, are unsustainable and ineffective. “Mathematics typically applied to network studies cannot detect the multidimensional structure we now clearly see,” Markram revealed.
Instead, scientists decided to use algebraic topology. It is a branch of mathematics that uses abstract algebra tools to study topological spaces. In the study, scientists from the Blue Brain Project were assisted by mathematicians Kathryn Hess of EPFL e Ran Levi from the University of Aberdeen.
“Algebraic topology is like a telescope and a microscope at the same time. It can zoom in on networks to reveal previously undetectable structures. In short, in a metaphorical forest, you can see both the trees and the empty spaces (the clearings)" added Professor Hess.
The multidimensional human brain can create structures up to 11 dimensions
Scientists have discovered that brain structures are created when a group of neurons – cells that transmit signals in the brain – form something called click. Each neuron is uniquely connected to every other neuron in the group, creating a new object. The more neurons there are in a clique, the larger the “size” of the object.
Scientists were able to build a virtual brain with the help of computers, then model its structures using algebraic topography. They then conducted experiments on real brain tissue to confirm the findings. The researchers discovered cavities between the cliques by adding stimuli to the virtual brain.
“The appearance of each multidimensional cavity when the brain processes information means that neurons in the network react to stimuli in an extremely organized way,” Levi explained.
It's as if the brain reacts to a stimulus by building and then razing a tower of multidimensional blocks, starting with rods (1D), then boards (2D), then cubes (3D), and then more complex geometries with 4D, 5D, etc. The progression of activity through the brain resembles a multidimensional sandcastle that materializes from the sand and then disintegrates.
Ran Levi , University of Aberdeen.
New data on the human brain offers unprecedented insight into how the human brain processes information.
Where are we today?
The epochal discovery gave a strong boost to research into the functioning of the brain. Covid has slowed down some of them, but the questions about the 'multidimensional' brain are still all on the table. The scientists said it is not yet clear, for example, how cliques and cavities form in their highly specific ways.
New studies (also guided by increasingly effective artificial intelligence) will be able to help scientists unravel this mystery, and those it brings with it. For example, one of the greatest mysteries of neuroscience: where the brain “stores” its memories. “Maybe right in a multidimensional cavity,” concludes Markram.
