Scale-invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut-off in size distributions.

Identification of cortical dynamics strongly benefits from the simultaneous recording of as many neurons as possible. Yet current technologies provide only incomplete access to the mammalian cortex from which adequate conclusions about dynamics need to be derived. Here, we identify constraints intro...

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Main Authors: Shan Yu, Andreas Klaus, Hongdian Yang, Dietmar Plenz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4057403?pdf=render
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author Shan Yu
Andreas Klaus
Hongdian Yang
Dietmar Plenz
author_facet Shan Yu
Andreas Klaus
Hongdian Yang
Dietmar Plenz
author_sort Shan Yu
collection DOAJ
description Identification of cortical dynamics strongly benefits from the simultaneous recording of as many neurons as possible. Yet current technologies provide only incomplete access to the mammalian cortex from which adequate conclusions about dynamics need to be derived. Here, we identify constraints introduced by sub-sampling with a limited number of electrodes, i.e. spatial 'windowing', for well-characterized critical dynamics-neuronal avalanches. The local field potential (LFP) was recorded from premotor and prefrontal cortices in two awake macaque monkeys during rest using chronically implanted 96-microelectrode arrays. Negative deflections in the LFP (nLFP) were identified on the full as well as compact sub-regions of the array quantified by the number of electrodes N (10-95), i.e., the window size. Spatiotemporal nLFP clusters organized as neuronal avalanches, i.e., the probability in cluster size, p(s), invariably followed a power law with exponent -1.5 up to N, beyond which p(s) declined more steeply producing a 'cut-off' that varied with N and the LFP filter parameters. Clusters of size s≤N consisted mainly of nLFPs from unique, non-repeated cortical sites, emerged from local propagation between nearby sites, and carried spatial information about cluster organization. In contrast, clusters of size s>N were dominated by repeated site activations and carried little spatial information, reflecting greatly distorted sampling conditions. Our findings were confirmed in a neuron-electrode network model. Thus, avalanche analysis needs to be constrained to the size of the observation window to reveal the underlying scale-invariant organization produced by locally unfolding, predominantly feed-forward neuronal cascades.
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spelling doaj.art-2a52c7ca7b1948a193656d27756c0e112022-12-21T23:48:37ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032014-01-0196e9976110.1371/journal.pone.0099761Scale-invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut-off in size distributions.Shan YuAndreas KlausHongdian YangDietmar PlenzIdentification of cortical dynamics strongly benefits from the simultaneous recording of as many neurons as possible. Yet current technologies provide only incomplete access to the mammalian cortex from which adequate conclusions about dynamics need to be derived. Here, we identify constraints introduced by sub-sampling with a limited number of electrodes, i.e. spatial 'windowing', for well-characterized critical dynamics-neuronal avalanches. The local field potential (LFP) was recorded from premotor and prefrontal cortices in two awake macaque monkeys during rest using chronically implanted 96-microelectrode arrays. Negative deflections in the LFP (nLFP) were identified on the full as well as compact sub-regions of the array quantified by the number of electrodes N (10-95), i.e., the window size. Spatiotemporal nLFP clusters organized as neuronal avalanches, i.e., the probability in cluster size, p(s), invariably followed a power law with exponent -1.5 up to N, beyond which p(s) declined more steeply producing a 'cut-off' that varied with N and the LFP filter parameters. Clusters of size s≤N consisted mainly of nLFPs from unique, non-repeated cortical sites, emerged from local propagation between nearby sites, and carried spatial information about cluster organization. In contrast, clusters of size s>N were dominated by repeated site activations and carried little spatial information, reflecting greatly distorted sampling conditions. Our findings were confirmed in a neuron-electrode network model. Thus, avalanche analysis needs to be constrained to the size of the observation window to reveal the underlying scale-invariant organization produced by locally unfolding, predominantly feed-forward neuronal cascades.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4057403?pdf=render
spellingShingle Shan Yu
Andreas Klaus
Hongdian Yang
Dietmar Plenz
Scale-invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut-off in size distributions.
PLoS ONE
title Scale-invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut-off in size distributions.
title_full Scale-invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut-off in size distributions.
title_fullStr Scale-invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut-off in size distributions.
title_full_unstemmed Scale-invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut-off in size distributions.
title_short Scale-invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut-off in size distributions.
title_sort scale invariant neuronal avalanche dynamics and the cut off in size distributions
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4057403?pdf=render
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AT andreasklaus scaleinvariantneuronalavalanchedynamicsandthecutoffinsizedistributions
AT hongdianyang scaleinvariantneuronalavalanchedynamicsandthecutoffinsizedistributions
AT dietmarplenz scaleinvariantneuronalavalanchedynamicsandthecutoffinsizedistributions