Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The "criticality hypothesis," based on observed scale-free correlations in neural activity, posits that the brain operates at a critical point of transition between two phases. However, the validity of this hypothesis is still debated. Here, employing a commonly used model of cortical dynamics, we find that a phase of long-range order (LRO) in neural activity may be induced by memory (time nonlocality) without invoking criticality. The cortical-dynamics model contains fast and slow time scales that govern the neural and resource (memory) dynamics, respectively. When the resource dynamics are sufficiently slow, we observe an LRO phase, which manifests in avalanche size and duration probability distributions that are fit well by power laws. When the slow and fast time scales are no longer sufficiently distinct, LRO is destroyed. Since this LRO phase spans a wide range of parameters, it is robust against perturbations, unlike critical systems.
Source: Physical review. E
DOI: 10.1103/d7mp-pk1w
Authors: Jay K.-C. Sun, Chesson Sipling, Yuan-Hang Zhang, Massimiliano Di Ventra
Institution: University of California San Diego
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4416890313