Franco Vaza, an astrophysicist at the University of Bologna, and Alberto Fellet, a neurosurgeon at the University of Verona, write about the parallels between the brain and the structure of the universe in their research.

Although the visible world and the human brain are very different sizes, researchers argue that both are equally complex and both are characterized by equal self-organization.

The human brain contains about 69 billion neurons, and the universe is made up of about 100 billion galaxies. Neurons, like galaxies, form complex structures and look like balls hanging on intertwined threads. In addition, neurons make up 30 percent of the mass of the brain, and the same percentage of the mass of the universe falls on galaxies.

The remaining 70% of the mass of the universe is occupied by dark energy. In the case of the brain, even water. Science has calculated the spectral densities of both systems, showing that the distribution of spinal neural networks and matter in the cosmic network follows a similar progression.

Scientists hope that by revealing the similarities, they will contribute to the development of new techniques of analysis in cosmology and neuroscience, which will give us more information about the formation of organized structures in the universe and in our brains.