Self-organized and self-sustained ensemble activity patterns in simulation of mouse primary motor cortex

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Complex Systems

Background:

• The cerebral cortex's self-organized signal processing is a key research area.
• Neuronal avalanches and power-law distributions suggest brain activity may operate near critical states.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate self-organized signals in a detailed simulation of the mouse primary motor cortex.
• To determine if neuronal avalanches exhibit power-law distributions in size and duration.

Main Methods:

• A data-driven simulation of the mouse primary motor cortex was used.
• A brief stimulus was applied to a small subset of neurons.

Main Results:

• Self-organized and self-sustained neuronal avalanches were observed.
• Avalanches displayed power-law distributions in size and duration, consistent with experimental findings.
• Four distinct cross-layer and cross-neuron population patterns were identified within avalanches.

Conclusions:

• Simulated mouse primary motor cortex activity exhibits self-organized criticality.
• Neuronal avalanches in simulations mirror those found in biological experiments.
• The findings support the hypothesis that the brain operates near critical states.