4,974 research outputs found
Spectral Modes of Network Dynamics Reveal Increased Informational Complexity Near Criticality
What does the informational complexity of dynamical networked systems tell us
about intrinsic mechanisms and functions of these complex systems? Recent
complexity measures such as integrated information have sought to
operationalize this problem taking a whole-versus-parts perspective, wherein
one explicitly computes the amount of information generated by a network as a
whole over and above that generated by the sum of its parts during state
transitions. While several numerical schemes for estimating network integrated
information exist, it is instructive to pursue an analytic approach that
computes integrated information as a function of network weights. Our
formulation of integrated information uses a Kullback-Leibler divergence
between the multi-variate distribution on the set of network states versus the
corresponding factorized distribution over its parts. Implementing stochastic
Gaussian dynamics, we perform computations for several prototypical network
topologies. Our findings show increased informational complexity near
criticality, which remains consistent across network topologies. Spectral
decomposition of the system's dynamics reveals how informational complexity is
governed by eigenmodes of both, the network's covariance and adjacency
matrices. We find that as the dynamics of the system approach criticality, high
integrated information is exclusively driven by the eigenmode corresponding to
the leading eigenvalue of the covariance matrix, while sub-leading modes get
suppressed. The implication of this result is that it might be favorable for
complex dynamical networked systems such as the human brain or communication
systems to operate near criticality so that efficient information integration
might be achieved
Critical dynamics on a large human Open Connectome network
Extended numerical simulations of threshold models have been performed on a
human brain network with N=836733 connected nodes available from the Open
Connectome project. While in case of simple threshold models a sharp
discontinuous phase transition without any critical dynamics arises, variable
thresholds models exhibit extended power-law scaling regions. This is
attributed to fact that Griffiths effects, stemming from the
topological/interaction heterogeneity of the network, can become relevant if
the input sensitivity of nodes is equalized. I have studied the effects effects
of link directness, as well as the consequence of inhibitory connections.
Non-universal power-law avalanche size and time distributions have been found
with exponents agreeing with the values obtained in electrode experiments of
the human brain. The dynamical critical region occurs in an extended control
parameter space without the assumption of self organized criticality.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted version to appear in PR
Avalanches in self-organized critical neural networks: A minimal model for the neural SOC universality class
The brain keeps its overall dynamics in a corridor of intermediate activity
and it has been a long standing question what possible mechanism could achieve
this task. Mechanisms from the field of statistical physics have long been
suggesting that this homeostasis of brain activity could occur even without a
central regulator, via self-organization on the level of neurons and their
interactions, alone. Such physical mechanisms from the class of self-organized
criticality exhibit characteristic dynamical signatures, similar to seismic
activity related to earthquakes. Measurements of cortex rest activity showed
first signs of dynamical signatures potentially pointing to self-organized
critical dynamics in the brain. Indeed, recent more accurate measurements
allowed for a detailed comparison with scaling theory of non-equilibrium
critical phenomena, proving the existence of criticality in cortex dynamics. We
here compare this new evaluation of cortex activity data to the predictions of
the earliest physics spin model of self-organized critical neural networks. We
find that the model matches with the recent experimental data and its
interpretation in terms of dynamical signatures for criticality in the brain.
The combination of signatures for criticality, power law distributions of
avalanche sizes and durations, as well as a specific scaling relationship
between anomalous exponents, defines a universality class characteristic of the
particular critical phenomenon observed in the neural experiments. The spin
model is a candidate for a minimal model of a self-organized critical adaptive
network for the universality class of neural criticality. As a prototype model,
it provides the background for models that include more biological details, yet
share the same universality class characteristic of the homeostasis of activity
in the brain.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Neuronal avalanches differ from wakefulness to deep sleep - evidence from intracranial depth recordings in humans
Neuronal activity differs between wakefulness and sleep states. In contrast, an attractor state, called self-organized critical (SOC), was proposed to govern brain dynamics because it allows for optimal information coding. But is the human brain SOC for each vigilance state despite the variations in neuronal dynamics? We characterized neuronal avalanches – spatiotemporal waves of enhanced activity - from dense intracranial depth recordings in humans. We showed that avalanche distributions closely follow a power law – the hallmark feature of SOC - for each vigilance state. However, avalanches clearly differ with vigilance states: slow wave sleep (SWS) shows large avalanches, wakefulness intermediate, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep small ones. Our SOC model, together with the data, suggested first that the differences are mediated by global but tiny changes in synaptic strength, and second, that the changes with vigilance states reflect small deviations from criticality to the subcritical regime, implying that the human brain does not operate at criticality proper but close to SOC. Independent of criticality, the analysis confirms that SWS shows increased correlations between cortical areas, and reveals that REM sleep shows more fragmented cortical dynamics
Decline of long-range temporal correlations in the human brain during sustained wakefulness
Sleep is crucial for daytime functioning, cognitive performance and general
well-being. These aspects of daily life are known to be impaired after extended
wake, yet, the underlying neuronal correlates have been difficult to identify.
Accumulating evidence suggests that normal functioning of the brain is
characterized by long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs) in cortex, which are
supportive for decision-making and working memory tasks.
Here we assess LRTCs in resting state human EEG data during a 40-hour sleep
deprivation experiment by evaluating the decay in autocorrelation and the
scaling exponent of the detrended fluctuation analysis from EEG amplitude
fluctuations. We find with both measures that LRTCs decline as sleep
deprivation progresses. This decline becomes evident when taking changes in
signal power into appropriate consideration.
Our results demonstrate the importance of sleep to maintain LRTCs in the
human brain. In complex networks, LRTCs naturally emerge in the vicinity of a
critical state. The observation of declining LRTCs during wake thus provides
additional support for our hypothesis that sleep reorganizes cortical networks
towards critical dynamics for optimal functioning
The topology of large Open Connectome networks for the human brain
The structural human connectome (i.e.\ the network of fiber connections in
the brain) can be analyzed at ever finer spatial resolution thanks to advances
in neuroimaging. Here we analyze several large data sets for the human brain
network made available by the Open Connectome Project. We apply statistical
model selection to characterize the degree distributions of graphs containing
up to nodes and edges. A three-parameter
generalized Weibull (also known as a stretched exponential) distribution is a
good fit to most of the observed degree distributions. For almost all networks,
simple power laws cannot fit the data, but in some cases there is statistical
support for power laws with an exponential cutoff. We also calculate the
topological (graph) dimension and the small-world coefficient of
these networks. While suggests a small-world topology, we found that
showing that long-distance connections provide only a small correction
to the topology of the embedding three-dimensional space.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, accepted version in Scientific Report
Being Critical of Criticality in the Brain
Relatively recent work has reported that networks of neurons can produce avalanches of activity whose sizes follow a power law distribution. This suggests that these networks may be operating near a critical point, poised between a phase where activity rapidly dies out and a phase where activity is amplified over time. The hypothesis that the electrical activity of neural networks in the brain is critical is potentially important, as many simulations suggest that information processing functions would be optimized at the critical point. This hypothesis, however, is still controversial. Here we will explain the concept of criticality and review the substantial objections to the criticality hypothesis raised by skeptics. Points and counter points are presented in dialog form
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