Cabbage looks like a brain because both have a similar structure of tightly packed layers. The cabbage consists of multiple layers of leaves all connected to a central core, resembling the brain’s folds and grooves (gyri and sulci), which also consist of tightly packed tissues with complex folds. This layered, compact structure in cabbage leads to its superficial resemblance to the cerebral cortex of a brain.
This similarity is essentially a coincidence of natural design: cabbage heads form dense, multi-layered leaves compacted around a core, while the brain develops complex folds to increase surface area for neural connections. The stunning, fractal-like patterns on certain vegetables like Romanesco broccoli—which is related to cabbage—result from repeated patterns in growth, but cabbage’s appearance is mostly about the compact arrangement of leaves.
In short, cabbage looks like a brain due to the layered, folded structure of its leaves around a core, visually mimicking the brain's wrinkled surface.
