| Despite the significant differences in the number of neurons and structures observed in the brains across the animal kingdom, the nervous systems of all animals suffer of similar limitations to aquire reliable information from the environment and serve the same functional purpouses. These limitations and goals are the main driving forces shaping the large-scale architecture of the neuronal connectivity. We review knowledge gained in the recent years by means of complex network analysis on the organization of both anatomical and functional connectivity of few species. They share a few fundamental architectural features: (i) neural systems posses short but abundant alternative processing paths, (ii) neurons and cortical regions form clusters of densely interconnected elements, and (iii) neural systems contain few network hubs. This architecture supports the idea that brain function is to be understood as emerging from the collective working of its constituents without a single coordinating center. The modular organization is a consequence of the specialization of different parts, and the highly interconnected hubs help in the integration and/or coordination of multisensory information. |
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