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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices

Published on: January 22, 2018

The basic nonuniformity of the cerebral cortex.

Suzana Herculano-Houzel¹, Christine E Collins, Peiyan Wong

¹Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade Federal Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. suzanahh@ism.com.br

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|August 12, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The number of neurons under a unit area of primate cerebral cortex varies significantly, challenging the long-held assumption of uniform neuronal density. This finding impacts models of cortical organization and evolution.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Evolutionary Biology
Comparative Anatomy

Background:

The prevailing view suggested a uniform number of neurons per unit area in the cerebral cortex, based on earlier studies.
This uniformity was thought to be a fundamental principle of neocortical organization, with evolutionary size changes attributed to modular additions/subtractions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the variability in the number of neurons beneath a unit area of the cerebral cortex across primate species.
To re-evaluate the assumption of invariant neuronal numbers in cortical columns across different primates.

Main Methods:

Quantified the number of neurons under 1 mm² of cerebral cortical surface in nine primate species and Tupaia sp.
Analyzed the relationship between cortical thickness, neuronal density, and total cortical surface area.

Main Results:

The number of neurons per unit area of primate cerebral cortex varied by threefold across species, refuting uniformity.
Cortical thickness was not inversely proportional to neuronal density.
Total cortical surface area increased non-linearly with the number of underlying neurons.

Conclusions:

The number of neurons beneath a unit area of cerebral cortex is not constant across primate species.
Models of cortical organization must account for this variability, as primate cortical columns do not consist of invariant neuron numbers.
Neuronal density, not cortical size, is the primary determinant of neurons per unit area.