Scale-free correlations in the dynamics of a small (N ~ 10000) cortical network

Abstract

The advent of novel opto-genetics technology allows the recording of brain activity with a resolution never seen before. The characterisation of these very large data sets offers new challengesas well as unique theory-testing opportunities. Here we discuss whether the spacial and temporalcorrelation of the collective activity of thousands of neurons are tangled as predicted by the theory ofcritical phenomena. The analysis shows that both, the correlation length ξ and the correlation timeτ scale as predicted as a function of the system size. With some peculiarities that we discuss, theanalysis uncovers new evidence consistent with the view that the large scale brain cortical dynamicscorresponds to critical phenomena.