APS » PROLA » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 74 » Issue 2

Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 326 - 329 (1995)

Dynamic Pattern Formation Leads to 1 / f Noise in Neural Populations

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Marius Usher * and Martin Stemmler †
Computation and Neural Systems, 139-74, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125

Zeev Olami
Department of Chemical Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel

Received 7 February 1994

We present a generic model that generates long-range (power-law) temporal correlations, 1 / f noise, and fractal signals in the activity of neural populations. The model consists of a two-dimensional sheet of pulse coupled nonlinear oscillators (neurons) driven by spatially and temporally uncorrelated external noise. The system spontaneously breaks the translational symmetry, generating a metastable quasihexagonal pattern of high activity clusters. Fluctuations in the spatial pattern cause these clusters to diffuse. The macroscopic dynamics (diffusion of clusters) translate into 1 / f power spectra and fractal (power-law) pulse distributions on the microscopic scale of a single unit.


©1995 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v74/p326
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.326
PACS: 87.10.+e

* Present address: Dept. of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
† To whom correspondence should be addressed.

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