PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alexandros Goulas
AU  - Richard F. Betzel
AU  - Claus C. Hilgetag
TI  - Spatiotemporal ontogeny of brain wiring
AID  - 10.1101/385369
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 385369
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/05/385369.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/05/385369.full
AB  - The wiring of the brain provides the anatomical skeleton for cognition and behavior. Connections among brain regions have a diverse and characteristic strength. This strength heterogeneity is captured by the wiring cost and homophily principles. Moreover, brains have a characteristic global network topology, including modularity and short path lengths. However, the mechanisms underlying the inter-regional wiring principles and global network topology of brains are unknown. Here, we address this issue by modeling the ontogeny of brain connectomes. We demonstrate that spatially embedded and heterochronous neurogenetic gradients, without the need of axonal-guidance molecules or activity-dependent plasticity, can reconstruct the wiring principles and shape the global network topology observed in adult brain connectomes. Thus, two fundamental dimensions, that is, space and time, are key components of a plausible neurodevelopmental mechanism with a universal scope, encompassing vertebrate and invertebrate brains.