dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaNonoptimal Component Placement, but Short Processing Paths, due to Long-Distance Projections in Neural Systems
| Authors | Marcus Kaiser, Claus C. Hilgetag |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0607034 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0607034 |
| DOI | 10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020095 |
| Journal | PLoS Comput Biol 2(7): e95 (2006) |
Abstract
It has been suggested that neural systems across several scales of organization show optimal component placement, in which any spatial rearrangement of the components would lead to an increase of total wiring. Using extensive connectivity datasets for diverse neural networks combined with spatial coordinates for network nodes, we applied an optimization algorithm to the network layouts, in order to search for wire-saving component rearrangements. We found that optimized component rearrangements could substantially reduce total wiring length in all tested neural networks. Specifically, total wiring among 95 primate (Macaque) cortical areas could be decreased by 32%, and wiring of neuronal networks in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans could be reduced by 48% on the global level, and by 49% for neurons within frontal ganglia. Wiring length reductions were possible due to the existence of long-distance projections in neural networks. We explored the role of these projections by comparing the original networks with minimally rewired networks of the same size, which possessed only the shortest possible connections. In the minimally rewired networks, the number of processing steps along the shortest paths between components was significantly increased compared to the original networks. Additional benchmark comparisons also indicated that neural networks are more similar to network layouts that minimize the length of processing paths, rather than wiring length. These findings suggest that neural systems are not exclusively optimized for minimal global wiring, but for a variety of factors including the minimization of processing steps.
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"abstract": "It has been suggested that neural systems across several scales of\norganization show optimal component placement, in which any spatial\nrearrangement of the components would lead to an increase of total wiring.\nUsing extensive connectivity datasets for diverse neural networks combined with\nspatial coordinates for network nodes, we applied an optimization algorithm to\nthe network layouts, in order to search for wire-saving component\nrearrangements. We found that optimized component rearrangements could\nsubstantially reduce total wiring length in all tested neural networks.\nSpecifically, total wiring among 95 primate (Macaque) cortical areas could be\ndecreased by 32%, and wiring of neuronal networks in the nematode\nCaenorhabditis elegans could be reduced by 48% on the global level, and by 49%\nfor neurons within frontal ganglia. Wiring length reductions were possible due\nto the existence of long-distance projections in neural networks. We explored\nthe role of these projections by comparing the original networks with minimally\nrewired networks of the same size, which possessed only the shortest possible\nconnections. In the minimally rewired networks, the number of processing steps\nalong the shortest paths between components was significantly increased\ncompared to the original networks. Additional benchmark comparisons also\nindicated that neural networks are more similar to network layouts that\nminimize the length of processing paths, rather than wiring length. These\nfindings suggest that neural systems are not exclusively optimized for minimal\nglobal wiring, but for a variety of factors including the minimization of\nprocessing steps.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0607034",
"authors": [
"Marcus Kaiser",
"Claus C. Hilgetag"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.NC",
"cond-mat.stat-mech"
],
"doi": "10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020095",
"journal_ref": "PLoS Comput Biol 2(7): e95 (2006)",
"title": "Nonoptimal Component Placement, but Short Processing Paths, due to Long-Distance Projections in Neural Systems",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0607034"
},
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