Abstract
A deterministic theoretical model that simulates the developmental process of the human brain is proposed. Observations of the development of the human brain with a high-speed camera show that the bones of the skull become increasingly larger over the neck, and that a lot of soup-like fluid for generating brain cells enters the skull from the body. This process is essentially similar to the intake process of an internal combustion engine, because the volume of the engine’s cylinder, which increases according to the descent of the piston, geometrically corresponds to the development of the skull, and also because the human neck resembles the intake port that serves as the throat of the engine. A higher-order numerical computation of the Navier-Stokes equation reveals the similarity between the convexoconcave forms inside the brain and the flow structure in the internal combustion engine. We will show that the present computation also simulates the emergence of the eyeballs. Finally, we will clarify the reason why cerebral development is strongly influenced by fluid dynamics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
Prusinkiewicz P, and Lindenmayer A (1990) The algorithmic beauty of plants. Springer, NY, pp 1–228
Thompson D (1961) On growth and form. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp 1–359
Ingber DE (1998) The architecture of life. Sci Am 52:48–57
Nakada T (2003) Free convection schema define the shape of the human brain: brain and self-organization. Med Hypotheses 60:159–164
Naitoh K, Kaneko Y, Iwata K (2004) Cycle-resolved large eddy simulation of an actual 4-valve engine based on a quasi-gridless approach. SAE paper 2004-01-3006
Naitoh K, Kuwahara K (1992) Large eddy simulation and direct simulation of compressible turbulence and combusting flows in engines based on the BI-SCALES method. Fluid Dyn Res 10:299–325
Tatsumi T (1998) Fluid dynamics (in Japanese). Baifukan
http://riodb.ibase.aist.go.jp/brain/welcomej.html (also in Matsuda K, Oishi T, Higo N (2007) S128, P1-k22 Web-based MRI brain image database system. Neurosci Res 58(suppl 1) (ISSN 0618-0102))
Tamraz JC, Comair YG (2000) Atlas of regional anatomy of the brain using MRI. Springer, Berlin, pp 1–330
Moonen CTW, Bandettini PA (2000) Functional MRI. Springer, Berlin, pp 1–575
Nakada T (2001) Ichi tasu Ichi. Kinokuniya-shoten, Tokyo
Naitoh K (2007) Computational fluid dynamics clarifying the early stage of cleavage. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Natural Computing, Nagoya
Naitoh K (2008) Fluid dynamics underlying morphogenesis. In: Proceedings of the 13th international symposium on artificial life and robotics, Oita
Dawkins R (1989) The selfish gene. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 1–384
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This work was presented in part at the First European Workshop on Artificial Life and Robotics, Vienna, Austria, July 12–13, 2007
About this article
Cite this article
Naitoh, K. Engine for cerebral development. Artif Life Robotics 13, 18–21 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-008-0506-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-008-0506-8