Role of chaotic dynamics in neural plasticity

Mathematical models are essential for the study of complex neural systems at all levels of the hierarchy from macromolecules through neurons to brain systems. ANN are readily available, but most of them are inappropriate for modeling brain function in normal behavior, because they stem from studies of neural systems in anesthetized or paralyzed animals which are capable only of reflux output. That class of models lacks the goal-directed, self-organizing properties of neural systems in behaving animals. In contrast to the stability of ANN and their reliance on asymptotic convergence to steady states (point attractors) and periodic oscillations (limit cycle attractors), BNN are intrinsically unstable. They continuously generate 'spontaneous' aperiodic activity that manifests the operation of chaotic dynamics undergoing repeated state transitions. Observations on the activity patterns of sensory cortex reveal that the perceptual outputs of BNN are by construction of spatial patterns and dynamic trajectories and not by computation using symbolic representations. Chaotic dynamics plays essential roles both in the construction of perceptions and in the continuing update of cortical populations, which requires selective synaptic modification during associative learning and habituation. Simultaneous multichannel recording from the olfactory bulb and cortex has given the following experimental results. (1) The cortical activity that relates to the perception of a sensory stimulus is carried macroscopically by a smaller number of single neurons e.g. 'units', 'feature detectors'. (2) The macroscopic activity reflects the meaning and significance of the stimulus for the experimental subject and not the stimulus as it is known to the observer. (3) The activity carries the meaning in spatial patterns, not in time series (the difference between a phonograph or radio and movie or TV). (4) The spatial patterns of activity that accompany previously learned stimuli or responses are changed by the introduction of new stimuli and also by modifications in reinforcement contingencies. There is no invariance in the memory store within the populations. (5) The patterns of activity are created by dynamic neural interactions in sensory cortex, not by registration or filtering of stimuli. There is no evidence for storage, retrieval, cross-correlation or logical tree search. (6) The dynamics is chaotic, not merely noisy, so that each act of perception involves a new construction by the cortex not by mere information processing. From these findings we infer that chaotic dynamics plays a crucial role in the construction of the associational contexts comprising the memory systems of experimental subjects.