Certainly, the brain is one of the most incredible and complex things in the known universe. It is the organ that defines us as human beings, the center of our emotions, thoughts, and actions. Through its intricate network of billions of neurons and synapses, the brain allows us to perceive the world, learn, remember, communicate, and experience life in all its facets. However, it is important to note that despite the significant advances scientists have made in recent years, there is still much we do not know. There are many things that elude us, such as how thoughts are formed, what makes a person creative, why some people have excellent memory while others don't. These are some of the questions that continue to challenge researchers today.
So, in their quest for answers, a team of physicists from the University of Sydney and the University of Fudan have made a truly strange discovery. We all know about spirals, which are patterns found in many places in the universe and even here on our planet. The resemblance between the network of galaxies in the universe and the connections in our brain is astonishing. Now, the question arises: could the brain also have spirals within its neuronal network? Well, it has just been confirmed that it does. These spirals were observed through functional magnetic resonance imaging in brain scans of 100 young adults, corresponding to brain signals observed in the cortex during resting and cognitive states. These states help the brain organize and process information. The spirals act as gates or walls, coordinating the flow of activity between these networks.
This set of organized interactions allows for a flexible and dynamic reconfiguration of brain activity during various complex tasks, which involve natural language processing and working memory. In order to achieve this flexibility, the waves can change their rotation directions.
Understanding these spirals definitively could reveal the most incredible secrets of the mind in the future and perhaps even explain consciousness.