Gyrification

In brain anatomy, gyrification (also known as foliation) refers to the folding of the cerebral cortex during brain development in many vertebrate taxa, including songbirds, cetaceans and primates.

While the extent of cortical folding has been found to be partly determined by genetic factors, the underlying biomechanical mechanisms are not yet well understood. The overall folding pattern, however, can be mechanistically explained in terms of the cerebral cortex resembling a gel that buckles under the influence of non-isotropic forces. Possible causes of the non-isotropy include thermal noise, variations in the number and timing of cell divisions, cell migration, cortical connectivity, pruning, brain size and metabolism (phospholipids in particular), all of which may interact.

This multitude of underlying processes has rendered the concept of gyrification increasingly important for clinical diagnostics in recent years, since disturbances in the folding pattern — as determined by non-invasive neuroimaging — can be taken as indicators of neuropsychiatric diseases. Patients with schizophrenia or Williams syndrome, for example, can be readily distinguished from healthy control populations on the basis of gyrification measures.