Reconstructed neuronal connections between different mouse brain areas. Image source: Allen Institute for Brain Science

New research shows that properties thought to be unique to the human brain are also shared by the mouse brain.

Researchers at the University of Sydney have analysed intricate whole-brain maps in mice to show that neural architecture varies along the path of information flow in a similar way in mouse and human brains, pointing to fundamental neural mechanisms for information processing.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, their finding calls into question the uniqueness of human consciousness and the anatomical structures that have evolved to support it.

“Lots of research has focused on how the brain’s circuits are specialised for different functions in the human brain — for example, how the properties of visual processing areas differ from brain areas that integrate diverse types of information,” said Dr Ben Fulcher, in the School of Physics at the University of Sydney, lead author of the study.

“This was thought to be something that might be unique to humans, following the large expansion of the human cortex, that may therefore be responsible for our distinct cognitive capabilities. By contrast, the brain’s cellular properties in animals like mice were thought to be relatively uniform,” Dr Fulcher said.