Related papers: Critical behaviour at the onset of synchronization…
It is widely accepted that the brain operates near a critical state, characterized by neural avalanches that follow power-law distributions. However, the functional rationale for why neural systems attain criticality remains unclear. Here,…
In this paper we study a simple model of a purely excitatory neural network that, by construction, operates at a critical point. This model allows us to consider various markers of criticality and illustrate how they should perform in a…
Many systems in nature are conjectured to exist at a critical point, including the brain and earthquake faults. The primary reason for this conjecture is that the distribution of clusters (avalanches of firing neurons in the brain or…
The critical brain hypothesis posits that neural circuitry operates near criticality to reap the computational benefits of accessing a wide range of timescales. The theory of critical phenomena generally predicts heavy-tailed (power-law)…
Experiments in various neural systems found avalanches: bursts of activity with characteristics typical for critical dynamics. A possible explanation for their occurrence is an underlying network that self-organizes into a critical state.…
Scale-free behavior as well as oscillations are frequently observed in the activity of many natural systems. One important example is the cortical tissues of mammalian brain where both phenomena are simultaneously observed. Rhythmic…
Cognitive function requires the coordination of neural activity across many scales, from neurons and circuits to large-scale networks. As such, it is unlikely that an explanatory framework focused upon any single scale will yield a…
Power-law-shaped avalanche-size distributions are widely used to probe for critical behavior in many different systems, particularly in neural networks. The definition of avalanche is ambiguous. Usually, theoretical avalanches are defined…
Highly correlated brain dynamics produces synchronized states with no behavioral value, while weakly correlated dynamics prevent information flow. In between these states, the unique dynamical features of the critical state endow the brain…
Networks of stochastic spiking neurons are interesting models in the area of Theoretical Neuroscience, presenting both continuous and discontinuous phase transitions. Here we study fully connected networks analytically, numerically and by…
The cooperative behavior of neurons and neuronal areas associated with the synchronization behavior proves to be a fundamental neural mechanism. In addition, abnormal levels of synchronization have been related to unhealthy neural…
Recently, neuronal avalanches have been observed to display oscillations, a phenomenon regarded as the co-existence of a scale-free behaviour (the avalanches close to criticality) and scale-dependent dynamics (the oscillations). Ordinary…
Neural synchronisation plays a critical role in information processing, storage and transmission. Characterising the pattern of synchronisation is therefore of great interest. It has recently been suggested that the brain displays broadband…
Intermittent transitions, associated with critical dynamics and characterized by power-law distributions, are commonly observed during sleep. These critical behaviors are evident at the microscopic level through neuronal avalanches and at…
We investigate the synaptic noise as a novel mechanism for creating critical avalanches in the activity of neural networks. We model neurons and chemical synapses by dynamical maps with a uniform noise term in the synaptic coupling. An…
Thermodynamic criticality describes emergent phenomena in a wide variety of complex systems. In the mammalian brain, the complex dynamics that spontaneously emerge from neuronal interactions have been characterized as neuronal avalanches, a…
Critical dynamics are assumed to be an attractive mode for normal brain functioning as information processing and computational capabilities are found to be optimized there. Recent experimental observations of neuronal activity patterns…
We introduce two coupled map lattice models with nonconservative interactions and a continuous nonlinear driving. Depending on both the degree of conservation and the convexity of the driving we find different behaviors, ranging from…
The concept of the brain as a critical system is very attractive because systems close to criticality are thought to maximise their dynamic range of information processing and communication. To date, there have been two key experimental…
This work concerns the long-term dynamics of a spatiotemporal many-body deterministic model that exhibits emergence and self-organization, and which has been recently proposed as a new paradigm for Artificial Life. Collective structures…