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Power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load

As it has several features that optimize information processing, it has been proposed that criticality governs the dynamics of nervous system activity. Indications of such dynamics have been reported for a variety of in vitro and in vivo recordings, ranging from in vitro slice electrophysiology to h...

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Autores principales: Tinker, Jesse, Velazquez, Jose Luis Perez
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4013475/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24822039
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00073
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author Tinker, Jesse
Velazquez, Jose Luis Perez
author_facet Tinker, Jesse
Velazquez, Jose Luis Perez
author_sort Tinker, Jesse
collection PubMed
description As it has several features that optimize information processing, it has been proposed that criticality governs the dynamics of nervous system activity. Indications of such dynamics have been reported for a variety of in vitro and in vivo recordings, ranging from in vitro slice electrophysiology to human functional magnetic resonance imaging. However, there still remains considerable debate as to whether the brain actually operates close to criticality or in another governing state such as stochastic or oscillatory dynamics. A tool used to investigate the criticality of nervous system data is the inspection of power-law distributions. Although the findings are controversial, such power-law scaling has been found in different types of recordings. Here, we studied whether there is a power law scaling in the distribution of the phase synchronization derived from magnetoencephalographic recordings during executive function tasks performed by children with and without autism. Characterizing the brain dynamics that is different between autistic and non-autistic individuals is important in order to find differences that could either aid diagnosis or provide insights as to possible therapeutic interventions in autism. We report in this study that power law scaling in the distributions of a phase synchrony index is not very common and its frequency of occurrence is similar in the control and the autism group. In addition, power law scaling tends to diminish with increased cognitive load (difficulty or engagement in the task). There were indications of changes in the probability distribution functions for the phase synchrony that were associated with a transition from power law scaling to lack of power law (or vice versa), which suggests the presence of phenomenological bifurcations in brain dynamics associated with cognitive load. Hence, brain dynamics may fluctuate between criticality and other regimes depending upon context and behaviors.
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spelling pubmed-40134752014-05-12 Power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load Tinker, Jesse Velazquez, Jose Luis Perez Front Syst Neurosci Neuroscience As it has several features that optimize information processing, it has been proposed that criticality governs the dynamics of nervous system activity. Indications of such dynamics have been reported for a variety of in vitro and in vivo recordings, ranging from in vitro slice electrophysiology to human functional magnetic resonance imaging. However, there still remains considerable debate as to whether the brain actually operates close to criticality or in another governing state such as stochastic or oscillatory dynamics. A tool used to investigate the criticality of nervous system data is the inspection of power-law distributions. Although the findings are controversial, such power-law scaling has been found in different types of recordings. Here, we studied whether there is a power law scaling in the distribution of the phase synchronization derived from magnetoencephalographic recordings during executive function tasks performed by children with and without autism. Characterizing the brain dynamics that is different between autistic and non-autistic individuals is important in order to find differences that could either aid diagnosis or provide insights as to possible therapeutic interventions in autism. We report in this study that power law scaling in the distributions of a phase synchrony index is not very common and its frequency of occurrence is similar in the control and the autism group. In addition, power law scaling tends to diminish with increased cognitive load (difficulty or engagement in the task). There were indications of changes in the probability distribution functions for the phase synchrony that were associated with a transition from power law scaling to lack of power law (or vice versa), which suggests the presence of phenomenological bifurcations in brain dynamics associated with cognitive load. Hence, brain dynamics may fluctuate between criticality and other regimes depending upon context and behaviors. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-05-01 /pmc/articles/PMC4013475/ /pubmed/24822039 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00073 Text en Copyright © 2014 Tinker and Perez Velazquez. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Tinker, Jesse
Velazquez, Jose Luis Perez
Power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load
title Power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load
title_full Power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load
title_fullStr Power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load
title_full_unstemmed Power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load
title_short Power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load
title_sort power law scaling in synchronization of brain signals depends on cognitive load
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4013475/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24822039
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00073
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