Criticality at work: scaling in the mouse cortex enhances performance

Fuente: arXiv
Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Autori principali: Cambrainha, Gustavo G., Castro, Daniel M., de Vasconcelos, Nivaldo A. P., Carelli, Pedro, Copelli, Mauro
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
Soggetti:
Accesso online:
Tags: Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
_version_ 1866914037222080512
author Cambrainha, Gustavo G.
Castro, Daniel M.
de Vasconcelos, Nivaldo A. P.
Carelli, Pedro
Copelli, Mauro
author_facet Cambrainha, Gustavo G.
Castro, Daniel M.
de Vasconcelos, Nivaldo A. P.
Carelli, Pedro
Copelli, Mauro
contents The critical brain hypothesis posits that neural systems operate near a phase transition, optimizing the processing of information. While scale invariance and non-Gaussian dynamics--hallmarks of criticality--have been observed in brain activity, a direct link between criticality and behavioral performance remains unexplored. Here, we use a phenomenological renormalization group approach to examine neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex of mice performing a visual recognition task. We show that nontrivial scaling in neuronal activity is associated with enhanced task performance, with pronounced scaling observed during successful task completion. When rewards were removed or non-natural stimuli presented, scaling signatures diminished. These results suggest that critical dynamics in the brain is crucial for optimizing behavioral outcomes, offering new insights into the functional role of criticality in cortical processing.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2410_23508
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Criticality at work: scaling in the mouse cortex enhances performance
Cambrainha, Gustavo G.
Castro, Daniel M.
de Vasconcelos, Nivaldo A. P.
Carelli, Pedro
Copelli, Mauro
Neurons and Cognition
The critical brain hypothesis posits that neural systems operate near a phase transition, optimizing the processing of information. While scale invariance and non-Gaussian dynamics--hallmarks of criticality--have been observed in brain activity, a direct link between criticality and behavioral performance remains unexplored. Here, we use a phenomenological renormalization group approach to examine neuronal activity in the primary visual cortex of mice performing a visual recognition task. We show that nontrivial scaling in neuronal activity is associated with enhanced task performance, with pronounced scaling observed during successful task completion. When rewards were removed or non-natural stimuli presented, scaling signatures diminished. These results suggest that critical dynamics in the brain is crucial for optimizing behavioral outcomes, offering new insights into the functional role of criticality in cortical processing.
title Criticality at work: scaling in the mouse cortex enhances performance
topic Neurons and Cognition
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.23508