主讲人：周昌松 教授（香港浸会大学）

题目：Critical neural avalanches reconcile response reliability with sensitivity for optimal neural representation

时间：2024年08月23日上午10：00

地点：理工楼1215

邀请人：俞连春

报告摘要：

Neural criticality has emerged as a unified framework that reconciles diverse multiscale neural dynamics such as the irregular firing of individual neurons, sparse synchrony in neural populations, and the emergence of scale-free avalanches. However, the functional role of neural criticality remains ambiguous. In particular, how highly sensitive and variable critical neural dynamics coexist with reliable neural representation is a unanswered question. In this study, we investigate the neural dynamics and representations in response to external signals in excitation–inhibition (E-I) balanced networks. Our findings reveal that, in contrast with the traditional critical branching model, the critical state of the balanced network simultaneously achieves maximal response sensitivity, maximal response reliability, and optimal representation of external signals. Moreover, we unveil a functional role of neural avalanches, which are not only a hallmark of criticality but also direct contributors to neural representation. By generalizing a semi-analytical mean-field theory, we demonstrate that heterogeneity in inhibitory connections is a mechanism underlying the heterogeneity of steady-state firing rates in the neural population, enabling the presence of signal-reliable neurons in reliable avalanches. Our study addresses a longstanding challenge concerning the functional significance of neural criticality -- the intricate coexistence of reliability and variability.

个人简介：

周昌松, 物理学博士，香港浸会大学物理系物理和复杂系统讲座教授、系主任，浸会大学非线性研究中心主任, 计算及理论研究所所长，生命科学影像中心主任。获浸会大学“杰出青年研究者校长奖” (2011)，“杰出研究者校长奖” (2021)， 及香港研究资助局“高级研究学者奖” （2023）。周昌松博士致力于复杂系统动力学基础研究及其应用，特别是大脑的复杂联结结构和活动以及认知功能及障碍的分析和建模等方面研究。在国际交叉学术刊物 Nature Communications, PNAS，PRL等发表论文170余篇 (Google Scholar引用19200余次，H-因子为54)。