Information decomposition and the informational architecture of the brain

Andrea I Luppi; Fernando E Rosas; Pedro A M Mediano; David K Menon; Emmanuel A Stamatakis

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2023.11.005

Information decomposition and the informational architecture of the brain

Trends Cogn Sci. 2024 Apr;28(4):352-368. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.11.005. Epub 2024 Jan 9.

Authors

Andrea I Luppi¹, Fernando E Rosas², Pedro A M Mediano³, David K Menon⁴, Emmanuel A Stamatakis⁵

Affiliations

¹ Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
² Department of Informatics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; Centre for Psychedelic Research, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK; Centre for Complexity Science, Imperial College London, London, UK; Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³ Department of Computing, Imperial College London, London, UK; Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁴ Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁵ Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. Electronic address: eas46@cam.ac.uk.

PMID: 38199949
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2023.11.005

Abstract

To explain how the brain orchestrates information-processing for cognition, we must understand information itself. Importantly, information is not a monolithic entity. Information decomposition techniques provide a way to split information into its constituent elements: unique, redundant, and synergistic information. We review how disentangling synergistic and redundant interactions is redefining our understanding of integrative brain function and its neural organisation. To explain how the brain navigates the trade-offs between redundancy and synergy, we review converging evidence integrating the structural, molecular, and functional underpinnings of synergy and redundancy; their roles in cognition and computation; and how they might arise over evolution and development. Overall, disentangling synergistic and redundant information provides a guiding principle for understanding the informational architecture of the brain and cognition.

Keywords: information decomposition; information theory; integration; redundancy; robustness; synergy.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Brain*
Cognition*
Humans