# Criticality in the brain: A synthesis of neurobiology, models and cognition

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1707.05952 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1707.05952/

## Key facts

- Cited by 9 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 19 Jul 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 9 of 9)

- [Intelligence at the Edge of Chaos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.02536/) (2024)
- [Optimal input representation in neural systems at the edge of chaos](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.05709/) (2021)
- [Formalising the Use of the Activation Function in Neural Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.04896/) (2021)
- [Continual Developmental Neurosimulation Using Embodied Computational Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.05753/) (2021)
- [Chaos-based reinforcement learning with TD3](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.09086/) (2024)
- [Turing's cascade instability supports the coordination of the mind, brain, and behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.07904/) (2022)
- [Demonstration of Superconducting Optoelectronic Single-Photon Synapses](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.09665/) (2022)
- [Hebbian learning the local structure of language](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.02057/) (2025)
- [What Neuroscience Can Teach AI About Learning in Continuously Changing Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.02103/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Cognitive function requires the coordination of neural activity across many scales, from neurons and circuits to large-scale networks. As such, it is unlikely that an explanatory framework focused upon any single scale will yield a comprehensive theory of brain activity and cognitive function. Modelling and analysis methods for neuroscience should aim to accommodate multiscale phenomena. Emerging research now suggests that multi-scale processes in the brain arise from so-called critical phenomena that occur very broadly in the natural world. Criticality arises in complex systems perched between order and disorder, and is marked by fluctuations that do not have any privileged spatial or temporal scale. We review the core nature of criticality, the evidence supporting its role in neural systems and its explanatory potential in brain health and disease.