Information transfer and criticality in the Ising model on the human connectome

PLoS One. 2014 Apr 4;9(4):e93616. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093616. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

We implement the Ising model on a structural connectivity matrix describing the brain at two different resolutions. Tuning the model temperature to its critical value, i.e. at the susceptibility peak, we find a maximal amount of total information transfer between the spin variables. At this point the amount of information that can be redistributed by some nodes reaches a limit and the net dynamics exhibits signature of the law of diminishing marginal returns, a fundamental principle connected to saturated levels of production. Our results extend the recent analysis of dynamical oscillators models on the connectome structure, taking into account lagged and directional influences, focusing only on the nodes that are more prone to became bottlenecks of information. The ratio between the outgoing and the incoming information at each node is related to the the sum of the weights to that node and to the average time between consecutive time flips of spins. The results for the connectome of 66 nodes and for that of 998 nodes are similar, thus suggesting that these properties are scale-independent. Finally, we also find that the brain dynamics at criticality is organized maximally to a rich-club w.r.t. the network of information flows.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Brain / cytology
  • Computer Simulation
  • Connectome* / methods
  • Humans
  • Mental Processes
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Nerve Net / physiology*
  • Neural Pathways / physiology*

Grants and funding

DM acknowledges financial support from Belgian Science Policy - IUAP Cerebnet. www.belspo.be. GW acknowledges support from the China Scholarship Council http://en.csc.edu.cn/. JMC is supported by Ikerbasque: The Basque Foundation for Science. www.ikerbasque.net/. JMC acknowledges financial support from Junta de Andalucia, grant P09-FQM-4682 www.juntadeandalucia.es/. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.