Post

Simon Schultz
@simonschultz.bsky.social

2/4 Using large-scale two-photon imaging of thousands of neurons in mouse visual cortex, we find that visual stimulation brings population dynamics closer to criticality — a regime long hypothesised to have favourable information-processing properties.

Simon Schultz
@simonschultz.bsky.social

3/4 But cortical activity isn't well described by a single dynamical state. By separating overlapping patterns of neuronal activity, we find multiple coexisting avalanches operating at different distances from criticality. Those associated with pupil-indexed arousal are closest to critical.

Simon Schultz
@simonschultz.bsky.social

4/4 These near-critical avalanches also show greater dynamic range, information storage and temporal entropy, consistent with theoretical predictions about computation near criticality. Collaborative work led by Cédric Stefens, with colleagues at Imperial and UCSB (data from Spencer Smith's group).