Symmetry breaking and high-dimensional chaos in sparse random networks of exact firing rate models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Clusella, Pau
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Clusella, Pau
author_facet Clusella, Pau
contents Exact firing rate models, also known as next-generation neural mass models (NG-NMMs), provide a rigorous description of the dynamics of neural populations. While in its simplest form a single population only displays fixed-point activity, multi-population models may display a range of different behaviors. In this work, we study the dynamics of all-excitatory or all-inhibitory NG-NMMs coupled through sparse random networks with row-normalized network topology. Linear stability analysis of the homogeneous states of the system, representing asynchronous neural activity, provides a dispersion relation linking the emergence of spatiotemporal dynamics to the spectra of the connectivity matrix. Using bounds from random matrix theory, we identify the parameter regions where instabilities occur. In undirected networks, only inhibitory systems produce heterogeneous stationary patterns, corresponding to a winner-takes-all mechanism. In directed networks, exotic rhythmic states with high frequencies emerge in both, excitatory and inhibitory systems. Numerical simulations reveal that these hectic oscillatory states correspond to high-dimensional chaos with extensive properties.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_15872
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Symmetry breaking and high-dimensional chaos in sparse random networks of exact firing rate models
Clusella, Pau
Chaotic Dynamics
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Dynamical Systems
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
Exact firing rate models, also known as next-generation neural mass models (NG-NMMs), provide a rigorous description of the dynamics of neural populations. While in its simplest form a single population only displays fixed-point activity, multi-population models may display a range of different behaviors. In this work, we study the dynamics of all-excitatory or all-inhibitory NG-NMMs coupled through sparse random networks with row-normalized network topology. Linear stability analysis of the homogeneous states of the system, representing asynchronous neural activity, provides a dispersion relation linking the emergence of spatiotemporal dynamics to the spectra of the connectivity matrix. Using bounds from random matrix theory, we identify the parameter regions where instabilities occur. In undirected networks, only inhibitory systems produce heterogeneous stationary patterns, corresponding to a winner-takes-all mechanism. In directed networks, exotic rhythmic states with high frequencies emerge in both, excitatory and inhibitory systems. Numerical simulations reveal that these hectic oscillatory states correspond to high-dimensional chaos with extensive properties.
title Symmetry breaking and high-dimensional chaos in sparse random networks of exact firing rate models
topic Chaotic Dynamics
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks
Dynamical Systems
Adaptation and Self-Organizing Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.15872