# Self-organising mechanism of neuronal avalanche criticality

Juanico, Dr D.E. (2007) Self-organising mechanism of neuronal avalanche criticality. [Preprint]

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## Abstract

A self-organising model is proposed to explain the criticality in cortical networks deduced from recent observations of neuronal avalanches. Prevailing understanding of self-organised criticality (SOC) dictates that conservation of energy is essential to its emergence. Neuronal networks however are inherently non-conservative as demonstrated by microelectrode recordings. The model presented here shows that SOC can arise in non-conservative systems as well, if driven internally. Evidence suggests that synaptic background activity provides the internal drive for non-conservative cortical networks to achieve and maintain a critical state. SOC is robust to any degree $\eta \in (0,1]$ of background activity when the network size $N$ is large enough such that $\eta N\sim 10^3$. For small networks, a strong background leads to epileptiform activity, consistent with neurophysiological knowledge about epilepsy.

Item Type: Preprint The author wishes to acknowledge the Office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD) of the University of the Philippines, Diliman for Research Grant No. 050501 DNSE and the Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development (PCASTRD) for funding. self-organised criticality; neuronal avalanche; intrinsic plasticity Neuroscience > BiophysicsNeuroscience > Neural Modelling 5398 Juanico, Dr Dranreb Earl 19 Feb 2007 11 Mar 2011 08:56