Critical Branching Neural Computation, Neural Avalanches, and 1/f Scaling
Christopher T. Kello, Bryan Kerster, Eric N. Johnson · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · 2011
It is now well-established that intrinsic fluctuations in human behavior tend to exhibit long-range correlations in the form of 1/f scaling.Their meaning is an ongoing matter of debate, and some researchers argue they reflect the tendency for neural and bodily systems to poise themselves near critical states.A spiking neural network model is presented that self-tunes to a critical point in terms of its spike branching ratio (i.e.critical branching).The model is shown to exhibit 1/f scaling near critical branching, as well neural avalanches, and critical branching is associated with maximal computational capacity when assessed in terms of reservoir computing.The model provides a basis for connecting neural and behavioral activity and function via criticality.