During the short period of brain development, nature is able to build the only system we know capable of producing cognition, language, creativity, and consciousness. The neocortex - the outermost layer of the mammalian cerebrum - appears to be the biological substrate of these abilities. Its development requires not only the precise placement and wiring of billions of cells, but also the implementation of mechanisms to ensure a viable cognition despite sometimes dramatic perturbations. Today, this remarkably complex organisation is thought to be genetically encoded, and further refined by activity-dependent processes. We propose that mechanical morphogenesis - the capacity of homogeneously growing elastic tissue to produce complex shapes - can also play an important role. Out of homogeneous growth, mechanical morphogenesis can induce the segregation of the neocortex into mechanical and geometric modules - the neocortical folds. Through the feedback of physical forces on developing tissue, these modules can influence the differentiation and wiring of the neocortex, having a causal role on neocortical development, and providing adaptable and robust units for its evolution.

中文翻译：

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机械形态发生在新皮层发育和进化中的作用。

在大脑发育的短时间内，自然能够建立我们所知道的能够产生认知，语言，创造力和意识的唯一系统。新皮质-哺乳动物大脑的最外层-似乎是这些能力的生物学底物。它的发展不仅需要数十亿个细胞的精确放置和布线，而且还需要采用机制来确保可行的认知，尽管有时会产生严重的干扰。今天，人们认为这种非常复杂的组织是基因编码的，并通过与活动有关的过程进一步完善。我们提出机械形态发生-均匀生长的弹性组织产生复杂形状的能力-也可以发挥重要作用。出于同质增长，机械形态发生可诱导新皮层分离成机械和几何模块-新皮层褶皱。通过对发育组织的物理力的反馈，这些模块可以影响新皮层的分化和布线，对新皮层的发展具有因果作用，并为其演化提供适应性强的单位。