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My name is Artem, I'm a computational neuroscience student and researcher. In this video we talk about the concept of critical point – how the brain might optimize information processing by hovering near a phase transition.

Patreon:   / artemkirsanov  
Twitter:   / artemkrsv  


OUTLINE:
00:00 Introduction
01:11 - Phase transitions in nature
05:05 - The Ising Model
09:33 - Correlation length and long-range communication
13:14 - Scale-free properties and power laws
20:20 - Neuronal avalanches
25:00 - The branching model
31:05 - Optimizing information transmission
34:06 - Brilliant.org
35:41 - Recap and outro

The book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/978026254403...

REFERENCES (in no particular order):
1. Zimmern, V. Why Brain Criticality Is Clinically Relevant: A Scoping Review. Front. Neural Circuits 14, 54 (2020).
2. Beggs, J. M. The criticality hypothesis: how local cortical networks might optimize information processing. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. 366, 329–343 (2008).
3. Beggs, J. M. The cortex and the critical point: understanding the power of emergence. (The MIT Press, 2022).
4. Heffern, E. F. W., Huelskamp, H., Bahar, S. & Inglis, R. F. Phase transitions in biology: from bird flocks to population dynamics. Proc. R. Soc. B. 288, 20211111 (2021).
5. Beggs, J. M. & Plenz, D. Neuronal Avalanches in Neocortical Circuits. J. Neurosci. 23, 11167–11177 (2003).
6. Avramiea, A.-E., Masood, A., Mansvelder, H. D. & Linkenkaer-Hansen, K. Long-Range Amplitude Coupling Is Optimized for Brain Networks That Function at Criticality. J. Neurosci. 42, 2221–2233 (2022).
7. O’Byrne, J. & Jerbi, K. How critical is brain criticality? Trends in Neurosciences 45, 820–837 (2022).
8. Haldeman, C. & Beggs, J. M. Critical Branching Captures Activity in Living Neural Networks and Maximizes the Number of Metastable States. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 058101 (2005).
9. Beggs, J. M. Being critical of criticality in the brain. Frontiers in Physiology.

Derivation that only power laws are scale-free:    • Fractals and Scaling: Only power laws...  

CREDITS:
Icons by https://biorender.com
Brain 3D models were modeled with Blender software using publicly available BrainGlobe atlases (https://brainglobe.info/atlas-api)

Ising model zooming animations:    • The Renormalisation Group  



This video was sponsored by Brilliant