Connectome modulates critical brain dynamics across local and global scales
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Neuronal activity in the brain has been hypothesized to operate near criticality–a dynamical regime poised between order and disorder that maximizes information processing, adaptability, and dynamic range. While criticality has been extensively studied at local scales (within neuronal populations) and at global scales (across interacting brain regions), the interplay between these levels remains poorly understood. Here, we propose a multiscale computational framework that bridges local and global criticality within a single, mechanistic model. At the mesoscopic level, individual brain regions are represented by neural mass models tuned near the transition between asynchronous and synchronous regimes. These regions are then coupled via an empirically derived mouse connectome to investigate how structural connectivity shapes the emergence of large-scale coordination. We show that (i) local near critical dynamics for an isolated brain region can be faithfully reproduced within a mean-field model framework, (ii) local distance to criticality is modulated by long-range coupling, (iii) whole-brain simulations reveal non-linear gradients of timescales and heterogeneous shifts towards/away from local criticality, and (iv) global criticality, manifested in scale-free avalanche distributions and optimal functional connectivity, emerges when local populations are locally tuned near criticality and coupled within an optimal range. These results demonstrate that local and global criticality are dynamically intertwined but not directly aligned, and that their relationship depends on the underlying structural connectivity. Our multiscale modeling framework provides a tractable tool for generating testable hypotheses on how brain criticality co-arises across scales and how it may be modulated in health and disease.
Source: Physical Review Research
DOI: 10.1103/n87d-5krk
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,625
OpenAlex ID: W7222044321