Citation
Nicolaides, Christos and Juanes, Rubén and Cueto-Felgueroso Landeira, Luis
(2016).
Self-organization of network dynamics into local quantized states.
"Scientific Reports", v. 6
;
pp. 1-9.
ISSN 2045-2322.
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep21360.
Abstract
Self-organization and pattern formation in network-organized systems emerges from the collective
activation and interaction of many interconnected units. A striking feature of these non-equilibrium
structures is that they are often localized and robust: only a small subset of the nodes, or cell assembly,
is activated. Understanding the role of cell assemblies as basic functional units in neural networks and
socio-technical systems emerges as a fundamental challenge in network theory. A key open question
is how these elementary building blocks emerge, and how they operate, linking structure and function
in complex networks. Here we show that a network analogue of the Swift-Hohenberg continuum
model—a minimal-ingredients model of nodal activation and interaction within a complex network—is
able to produce a complex suite of localized patterns. Hence, the spontaneous formation of robust
operational cell assemblies in complex networks can be explained as the result of self-organization,
even in the absence of synaptic reinforcements.