Quasi-Critical Brain Dynamics on a Non-Equilibrium Widom Line

Abstract

Is the brain really operating at a critical point? We study the non-equilibrium properties of a neural network which models the dynamics of the neocortex and argue for optimal quasi-critical dynamics on the Widom line where the correlation length is maximal. We simulate the network and introduce an analytical mean-field approximation, characterize the non-equilibrium phase transition, and present a non-equilibrium phase diagram, which shows that in addition to an ordered and disordered phase, the system exhibits a quasiperiodic phase corresponding to synchronous activity in simulations which may be related to the pathological synchronization associated with epilepsy.

Submitted to Physical Review Letters on March 29, 2014. Transferred to Physical Review E on August 4, 2014

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• 25 years of criticality in neuroscience -- established results, open controversies, novel concepts