email mitya@cshl.edu, phone (516) 367-6926, fax (516) 367-8389

The human brain is a result of evolution by natural selection. For hundreds of millions of years the design of the brain has been optimized to best meet the requirements of an animal. Thus, it is natural to apply optimization theory, a branch of mathematics concerned with best ways of doing things, to understand the features of brain design. This understanding is crucial in the quest to solve the workings of the brain.

Why do neurons have dendrites? Why do topographic maps exist in the brain? Why are there separate cortical areas? These and many other questions are answered in the framework of a single optimization hypothesis: the wiring economy principle.This hypothesis states that the optimization of neuronal placement to keep interneuronal wiring as short as possible is a crucial consideration in determining brain design.

The wiring economy principle is capable of more than just explaining the known features of brain design. A theory based on it can establish a link between the neuronal circuitry and the neuronal layout. Because the layout is often known,while the neuronal circuitry is not, this principle can serve as a powerful tool for uncovering brain circuits.

For example, we have applied the wiring economy principle to the orientation preference maps in mammalian visual cortex. Most neurons in the visual cortex are responsible for detecting edges of certain orientations, and neurons with similar orientation preferences cluster together forming intricate spatial maps. By invoking the wiring economy principle, we explained why these maps were formed and made testable predictions about the underlying neuronal circuitry.

Please visit the Chklovskii Lab home page.

Selected Publications

Stepanyants, A., P.R. Hof, and D.B. Chklovskii. 2002. Geometry and structural plasticity and synaptic connectivity. Neuron 34: 275–288.

Chklovskii, D.B., T. Schikorski, and C.F. Stevens. 2002. Wiring optimization in cortical circuits. Neuron 34: 341–347.

Koulakov, A.A., and D.B. Chklovskii. 2001. Orientation preference maps in mammalian visual cortex: a wire length minimization approach. Neuron 29: 519–527.

Chklovskii, D.B. 2000. Optimal sizes of dendritic and axonal arbors in a topographic projection. J. Neurophysiol. 83: 2113–2119.

Chklovskii, D.B. 2000. Binocular disparity can explain the orientation of ocular dominance stripes in primate primary visual area (V1). Vision Res. 40: 1765–1773.