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The Role of Criticality in Flexible Visual Information Processing

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The Functional Role of Critical Dynamics in Neural Systems

Part of the book series: Springer Series on Bio- and Neurosystems ((SSBN,volume 11))

Abstract

Dynamical systems close to a critical state have the ability to spontaneously engage large numbers of units in collective events called avalanches–but how can this property be actively employed by the brain in order to perform meaningful computations under realistic circumstances? In our study we investigate this question by focusing on the visual system which has to meet a major challenge: to rapidly integrate information from a large number of single channels, and in a flexible manner depending on behavioral and external context. In this framework we are going to discuss two distinct examples, the first a bottom-up figure-ground segregation scenario and the second a top-down enhancement of object discriminability under selective attention. Both scenarios make explicit use of critical states for information processing, while formally extending the concept of criticality to inhomogeneous systems subject to a strong external drive.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Andreas Kreiter and his group for providing the data shown in Fig. 8b. This work has been supported by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF, Bernstein Award Udo Ernst, Grant No. 01GQ1106).

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  1. University of Bremen, Cognium, Hochschulring 18, 28359, Bremen, Germany

    Nergis Tomen & Udo Ernst

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  1. Nergis Tomen
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Correspondence to Nergis Tomen .

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  1. Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Nergis Tomen

  2. Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    J. Michael Herrmann

  3. Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Udo Ernst

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Tomen, N., Ernst, U. (2019). The Role of Criticality in Flexible Visual Information Processing. In: Tomen, N., Herrmann, J., Ernst, U. (eds) The Functional Role of Critical Dynamics in Neural Systems . Springer Series on Bio- and Neurosystems, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20965-0_12

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