The human brain, with approximately 89 billion neurons and around 7,000 connections on average, is considered the most complex object in the known Universe. Researchers have discovered that the brains of insects, mammals, and humans exhibit a universal "delicate balance" or critical state, similar to the transition between solid and liquid phases, based on fractal patterns and correlated segment sizes observed in neurons, suggesting a fundamental principle across species. A study published in Communications Physics, a journal by Nature Portfolio on June 10, found that the brain's structural features are near a similar critical point or structural phase transition, consistent across human, mouse, and fruit fly brains, indicating potential universality.
Despite initial differences in structures, emerging properties in brain tissues of different organisms were surprisingly similar, indicating that brains of different creatures share universal principles governing their structural complexity, potentially due to evolution converging on critical patterns for optimal information processing. 1 View gallery ( Photo: shutterstock ) Scientists have identified components of neurons that align with materials undergoing a phase shift, and brain cell structures in humans, mice, and fruit flies exhibit the same critical state signatures. Different creatures' brains share universal principles governing their structural complexity, and brain tissue at the nanoscale exhibits traits of universal.
