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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices
Published on: January 22, 2018
Cortical hubs form a module for multisensory integration on top of the hierarchy of cortical networks
Gorka Zamora-López1, Changsong Zhou, Jürgen Kurths
1Interdisciplinary Center for Dynamics of Complex Systems, University of Potsdam Potsdam, Germany.
Abstract:
Sensory stimuli entering the nervous system follow particular paths of processing, typically separated (segregated) from the paths of other modal information. However, sensory perception, awareness and cognition emerge from the combination of information (integration). The corticocortical networks of cats and macaque monkeys display three prominent characteristics: (i) modular organisation (facilitating the segregation), (ii) abundant alternative processing paths and (iii) the presence of highly connected hubs. Here, we study in detail the organisation and potential function of the cortical hubs by graph analysis and information theoretical methods. We find that the cortical hubs form a spatially delocalised, but topologically central module with the capacity to integrate multisensory information in a collaborative manner. With this, we resolve the underlying anatomical substrate that supports the simultaneous capacity of the cortex to segregate and to integrate multisensory information.
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