Analysis of the structure of the brain stem of mammals by means of a modified D’Arcy Thompson procedure

• Published in: Brain Structure and Function Vol. 214; no. 1; pp. 79 - 85
• Main Author: Nieuwenhuys, Rudolf
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.12.2009; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Brain research; Brain stem; Brain Stem - anatomy & histology; Cell Biology; Central nervous system; Cortex; Functional anatomy; Histological Techniques - methods; Humans - anatomy & histology; Mammals; Mammals - anatomy & histology; Neocortex - anatomy & histology; Neurology; Neurosciences; Short Communication; Species Specificity; Structure-function relationships; Coordinate systems; Transformations; Neocortex; Brain stem
• ISSN: 1863-2653; 1863-2661; 1863-2661; 0340-2061
• DOI: 10.1007/s00429-009-0223-7

In his famous book, ‘On Growth and Form’, D’Arcy Thompson demonstrated that the shapes of related animals, or parts thereof, can be transformed into each other by a simple graphical procedure, called the method of coordinates. In this procedure, an object is inscribed in a net of Cartesian coordinates. It appeared that the shape of related objects could be characterized by means of simple, harmonious deformations of the initial orthogonal system of coordinates. Here, I demonstrate that: (1) the central nervous system contains a built-in, natural coordinate system; (2) differences in shape and proportion of cross sections through the brain stem of various mammals can be easily analyzed with the aid of this coordinate system, and (3) sets of structures in the mammalian brain stem, which are closely related to the neocortex, but form part of entirely different functional systems, form spatially constrained complexes, and have the capacity to expand jointly and harmoniously within these complexes.