Brain and Nonlinear Dynamics: Slow-Wave Sleep Regulates to the Edge of Chaos

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Springer Series in Cognitive and Neural Systems book series (SSCNS, volume 11)

Abstract

We present a theoretical modeling study that predicts that the EEG waveforms observed during the passage from wake through the stages of deepening natural sleep arise from the evolving interactions between symmetry-breaking transitions in the brain. These non-equilibrium transitions are brought on by modulations from naturally occurring neurotransmitters, primarily acetylcholine and GABA, whose concentrations vary dynamically during sleep. In particular, we find that the slow-wave oscillations of deepest nonREM sleep are fundamentally chaotic in nature, arising spontaneously from a competitive interaction between Turing (spatial) and Hopf (temporal) instabilities. We show that by introducing an activity-based regulation of inhibitory gap-junction diffusion, the sleeping cortex can move towards the edge of chaos defined by the boundary between the disordered slow-wave state and a pathologically ordered seizure-like state. We suggest that such self-organization could allow the brain to dwell in a state that is optimized for pruning and consolidation of memories.

Keywords

Slow-wave sleep EEG Spatiotemporal instability Birfurcation Non-equilibrium states Hopf oscillations Turing patterns Self-organization Edge of chaos 
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.School of EngineeringUniversity of WaikatoHamiltonNew Zealand

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