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Abstract:
Self-organized criticality (SOC) is one of the key concepts for describing the emergence of complexity in nature. In neural systems, the critical state is believed to optimize memory capacity, sensitivity to stimuli and information transmission. Critical avalanches were found in cortical cultures and slices [1] and in the motor cortex of awake monkeys [2]. Computational models of SOC often include an explicit regulatory mechanism that guides the state of the network toward criticality. We have shown previously [3, 4] that synaptic facilitation and depression are sufficient to explain the self-organization of critical behavior in a network of non-leaky neurons. This model lead to the prediction of an activity-dependent switching mechanism for up and down state dynamics in prefrontal cortex [4].
