Analytically tractable model of synaptic crowding explains emergent small-world structure and network dynamics

Fuente: arXiv
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Autore principale: Fukushima, Makoto
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Fukushima, Makoto
author_facet Fukushima, Makoto
contents Neural circuits must balance local connectivity constraints against the need for global integration. Here we introduce a minimal wiring rule motivated by synaptic crowding: as a neuron accumulates incoming connections, each additional synapse becomes progressively harder to form. This single-parameter model admits an exact finite-size solution for the induced in-degree distribution and yields simple scaling laws: mean connectivity grows only logarithmically with network size while variance remains bounded -- consistent with homeostatic regulation of synaptic density. When candidates are encountered in order of spatial proximity, the crowding rule produces a broad, approximately power-law distribution of connection lengths without prescribing any explicit distance-dependent wiring law; combined with shortcut rewiring, this yields networks with small-world characteristics. We further show that the induced degree statistics largely determine attractor basin boundaries in threshold network dynamics, while local clustering primarily modulates the prevalence of long-lived non-absorbing outcomes near these boundaries. The model provides testable predictions linking local developmental constraints to macroscopic network organization and dynamics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_19320
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Analytically tractable model of synaptic crowding explains emergent small-world structure and network dynamics
Fukushima, Makoto
Neurons and Cognition
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Social and Information Networks
Neural circuits must balance local connectivity constraints against the need for global integration. Here we introduce a minimal wiring rule motivated by synaptic crowding: as a neuron accumulates incoming connections, each additional synapse becomes progressively harder to form. This single-parameter model admits an exact finite-size solution for the induced in-degree distribution and yields simple scaling laws: mean connectivity grows only logarithmically with network size while variance remains bounded -- consistent with homeostatic regulation of synaptic density. When candidates are encountered in order of spatial proximity, the crowding rule produces a broad, approximately power-law distribution of connection lengths without prescribing any explicit distance-dependent wiring law; combined with shortcut rewiring, this yields networks with small-world characteristics. We further show that the induced degree statistics largely determine attractor basin boundaries in threshold network dynamics, while local clustering primarily modulates the prevalence of long-lived non-absorbing outcomes near these boundaries. The model provides testable predictions linking local developmental constraints to macroscopic network organization and dynamics.
title Analytically tractable model of synaptic crowding explains emergent small-world structure and network dynamics
topic Neurons and Cognition
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Neural and Evolutionary Computing
Social and Information Networks
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.19320