Cortical neuronal numbers in the Northern minke whale align with artiodactyl scaling rules

In our newly published study we analyzed the neuronal composition of the Northern minke whale brain. We find that the cerebral cortex, despite being about twice the mass of the human cortex, contains only the number of neurons expected for an artiodactyl brain of its size, and far fewer than in humans and great apes. At the same time the minke whale shows an unusually high proportion of cerebellar neurons relative to cortical neurons, a specialization that may be linked to their unique acoustic communication. These results advances our understanding of cetacean brain composition and highlight conserved as well as unique aspects of their neural architecture. Read the full study here [Link].

BSAF Award for Best Neuroimaging Paper 2025

We are happy to share that our paper “Anatomical and volumetric description of the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia guianensis) brain from an ultra-high-field magnetic resonance imaging”  received the BSAF Best Neuroimaging Award.

The study provides the first comprehensive anatomical and volumetric description of the Guiana dolphin brain using ultra-high-field MRI. These data offer an important reference point for future comparative and evolutionary neuroanatomy research.

The article is freely available: [Link].