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The mean absolute deviation is also a measure of the variability of data in a sample. It is the absolute value of the average difference between the data values and the mean.
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Modules or Mean-Fields?

Thomas Parr1, Noor Sajid1, Karl J Friston1

  • 1Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (UCL), London WC1N 3AR, UK.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)
|December 8, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Brain function may appear modular due to factorisation, not modularisation. This mean-field approach explains how complex systems, like the brain, achieve functional anatomy through independent dynamics.

Keywords:
Bayesian mechanicsdensity dynamicsmessage passingmodularitystochastic dynamics

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Area of Science:

  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Theoretical Neuroscience
  • Systems Neuroscience

Background:

  • The brain's segregated neural processing is often viewed as evidence for modular function.
  • Modular views imply specialized brain systems computing in isolation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To propose factorisation, not modularisation, as the basis for the brain's functional anatomy.
  • To explain brain function using principles of stochastic non-equilibrium systems and mean-field theory.

Main Methods:

  • Overview of mean-field theory and its application to stochastic dynamical systems.
  • Numerical simulations to demonstrate the consequences of factorisation.
  • Analysis of density dynamics in non-equilibrium steady-state systems.

Main Results:

  • Stochastic non-equilibrium systems exhibit average gradient ascent on their steady-state density.
  • Sparse conditional independency structures support mean-field dynamical formulations.
  • Factorisation decomposes system density into independent marginal probabilities, creating a modular appearance.

Conclusions:

  • Factorisation, rather than modularisation, underlies the functional anatomy of sentient systems.
  • This perspective offers a simpler explanation for brain organization and computational architecture.
  • Highlights implications for neuronal message passing and the computational basis of sentience.