title: Universal critical dynamics in high resolution neuronal avalanche data.
abstract: The tasks of neural computation are remarkably diverse. To function optimally, neuronal networks have been hypothesized to operate near a nonequilibrium critical point. However, experimental evidence for critical dynamics has been inconclusive. Here, we show that the dynamics of cultured cortical networks are critical. We analyze neuronal network data collected at the individual neuron level using the framework of nonequilibrium phase transitions. Among the most striking predictions confirmed is that the mean temporal profiles of avalanches of widely varying durations are quantitatively described by a single universal scaling function. We also show that the data have three additional features predicted by critical phenomena: approximate power law distributions of avalanche sizes and durations, samples in subcritical and supercritical phases, and scaling laws between anomalous exponents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1110 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Braden A W
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Brinkman
authors.forename: Masanori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimono
authors.forename: R E Lee
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: DeVille
authors.forename: Karin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Dahmen
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Beggs
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Butler
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats