Washington University Professors Larry Taber and Phillip Bayly are examining mechanical and developmental processes that occur in the folding of the brain's surface, or cortex.

Folding is very important in human brain development because some of the worst neurological problems such as schizophrenia, autism and severe retardation are associated with abnormal brain folding. Taber and Bayly hope that increased understanding of brain folding might someday help prevent such diseases.

"We're not sure of the similarities between heart looping and brain folding," Taber said. "But there are only a handful of processes that cells use to create shape and form in the embryo. Developing brain and heart cells have the same basic tool set, but somehow they integrate them in different ways."

The scientists are currently conducting research on newborn ferrets. The ferret is the smallest mammal that has a folded brain, and unlike humans, folding occurs after the animal is born.

Post doctoral researcher Gang Xu presented the research last week in Los Angeles during the annual meeting of the Biomedical Engineering Society.