The cerebral cortex of the human brain is highly convoluted, meaning it has many folds and creases. These convolutions allow a large surface area of brain to fit inside our skulls. ... Instead, their brains are smooth, with no sulci (grooves) or gyri (the bulges seen on the outer surface).

What causes convolutions in the brain?

The convolutions in our brains are caused by mechanical constraints. This work was published in the Nature Physics journal, and co-authored by François Rousseau, a researcher at Télécom Bretagne.

Is the brain crumpled?

The human brain is relatively large and very wrinkled. Wrinkles increase the surface are for neurons. ... The reason our brains have that wrinkly, walnut shape may be that the rapid growth of the brain's outer brain — the gray matter — is constrained by the white matter, a new study shows.