Abstract:
The criticality hypothesis proposes that –under some circumstances– living systems can lie in the vicinity of a phase transition, i.e. at the borderline between their ordered and disordered phases, shedding much light on the comprehension of several natural phenomena that, until recently, were poorly understood. Partially backed by empirical evidence, it has been conjectured that the cortex might work at the edge of a phase transition, from which important functional advantages stem.
We will discuss and analyze how recent empirical and theoretical findings might indicate that the nature of such phase transition is most likely a synchronization one, separating synchronous from asynchronous phases, and how the underlying network structure plays a crucial role in the emergence of new extended dynamical phases.