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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience pp 1–7Cite as

Wiring Principles, Optimization

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Definition

Wiring principles determine the topological and spatial layout of connections and nodes of neural networks. The organization of brain connectivity is subject to several, synergistic or conflicting, constraints, such as low metabolic cost, restrictions of white matter volume by the skull size, and high efficiency of signal processing as reflected in a small number of processing steps.

Detailed Description

Brain connectivity can be analyzed from the perspective of topological or spatial properties of the network. Traditionally, wiring principles have been discussed in the context of spatial properties of brain networks, that is, defined by the location of network nodes and the length of connections among them.

Wiring can be considered at the local scale, reflected by axons and dendrites between individual neurons, or at the global scale, by fiber tracts among brain regions. A lower bound for the wire length is the Euclidean distance between two connected network nodes,...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Claremont Tower, NE1 7RU, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, UK

    Marcus Kaiser

  2. Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg University, Hamburg, Germany

    Claus C. Hilgetag

  3. Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, USA

    Claus C. Hilgetag

Authors
  1. Marcus Kaiser
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  2. Claus C. Hilgetag
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marcus Kaiser .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Kaiser, M., Hilgetag, C.C. (2014). Wiring Principles, Optimization. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_291-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_291-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Wiring Principles, Optimization
    Published:
    30 July 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_291-2

  2. Original

    Wiring Principles, Optimization
    Published:
    07 February 2014

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_291-1

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