The economy of anatomy: Discovering the turbulent homogeneous isotropic functional core organisation of the human brain

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Using large-scale neuroimaging data from 1003 healthy participants, we demonstrate empirically and theoretically that human brain dynamics is organised around a <jats:italic>homogeneous isotropic functional core</jats:italic>. More importantly, this homogeneous isotropic functional core follows a <jats:italic>turbulent-like power scaling law</jats:italic> for functional correlations in a broad spatial range suggestive of a <jats:italic>cascade</jats:italic> of information processing. The underlying anatomy of the brain is expensive in terms of material and metabolic costs and it has been suggested that the trade-offs between wiring cost and topological value change over many timescales but exactly how is not known (<jats:italic>1</jats:italic>). Here, we demonstrate how the economy of anatomy has evolved a <jats:italic>homogeneous isotropic functional core</jats:italic> by using whole-brain modelling with the <jats:italic>exponential Markov-Kennedy distance rule</jats:italic> of anatomical connections as the cost-of-wiring principle demonstrated in the massive retrograde tract tracing studies in non-human primates by Markov, Kennedy and colleagues (<jats:italic>2</jats:italic>). Overall, our results reveal a novel way of analysing and modelling whole-brain dynamics that establishes a fundamental basic principle of brain organisation.</jats:p>