Transmitter receptors constitute a key component of the molecular machinery for intercellular communication in the brain. Recent efforts have mapped the density of diverse transmitter receptors across the human cerebral cortex with an unprecedented level of detail. Here, we distill these observations into key organizational principles. We demonstrate that receptor densities form a natural axis in the human cerebral cortex, reflecting decreases in differentiation at the level of laminar organization and a sensory-to-association axis at the functional level. Along this natural axis, key organizational principles are discerned: progressive molecular diversity (increase of the diversity of receptor density); excitation/inhibition (increase of the ratio of excitatory-to-inhibitory receptor density); and mirrored, orderly changes of the density of ionotropic and metabotropic receptors. The uncovered natural axis formed by the distribution of receptors aligns with the axis that is formed by other dimensions of cortical organization, such as the myelo- and cytoarchitectonic levels. Therefore, the uncovered natural axis constitutes a unifying organizational feature linking multiple dimensions of the cerebral cortex, thus bringing order to the heterogeneity of cortical organization.

递质受体构成大脑细胞间通讯分子机制的关键组成部分。最近的工作以前所未有的详细程度绘制了人类大脑皮层不同递质受体的密度图。在这里，我们将这些观察结果提炼成关键的组织原则。我们证明受体密度在人类大脑皮层中形成自然轴，反映了层状组织水平上分化的减少和功能水平上感觉-联想轴的减少。沿着这个自然轴，可以看出关键的组织原则：渐进的分子多样性（受体密度多样性的增加）；兴奋/抑制（兴奋性与抑制性受体密度的比率增加）；并反映了离子型和代谢型受体密度的有序变化。由受体分布形成的未覆盖的自然轴与皮质组织其他维度（例如骨髓和细胞结构水平）形成的轴对齐。因此，未被覆盖的自然轴构成了连接大脑皮层多个维度的统一组织特征，从而为皮层组织的异质性带来了秩序。