The majority of human brain folding occurs during the third trimester of gestation. Although many studies have investigated the physical mechanisms of brain folding, a comprehensive understanding of this complex process has not yet been achieved. In mechanical terms, the “differential growth hypothesis” suggests that the formation of folds results from a difference in expansion rates between cortical and subcortical layers, which eventually leads to mechanical instability akin to buckling. It has also been observed that axons, a substantial component of subcortical tissue, can elongate or shrink under tensile or compressive stress, respectively. Previous work has proposed that this cell-scale behavior in aggregate can produce stress-dependent growth in the subcortical layers. The current study investigates the potential role of stress-dependent growth on cortical surface morphology, in particular the variations in folding direction and curvature over the course of development.
In the present book, eleven typical literatures about Brain Multiphysics published on international authoritative journals were selected to introduce the worldwide newest progress, which contains reviews or original researches on Patient-specific computational modelling, Human whole-brain models, Multi-physics modeling, Effects of stress-dependent growth, Brain strain rate response, ect. We hope this book can demonstrate advances in Brain Multiphysics as well as give references to the researchers, students and other related people.