Sleep unconsciousness and breakdown of serial critical intermittency: New vistas on the global workspace

摘要: Abstract While several mental functions are characterized by parallel computation performed moduli in the cortex, consciousness is sustained a serial global integration: single scene at time takes place. Studies on complex systems show that macroscopic variables, integrating many components activities, undergo fluctuations with an intermittent structure when system state called “criticality”, avalanches inverse-power-law (scale-free) distribution densities of sizes and inter-event times. Criticality has been established human brain dynamics during wakefulness. Here we review how critical hypothesis able to explain recent studies dynamics. We focus, particular, global, serial, behavior can be assessed via high-density electroencephalograms, studying transitions between metastable states. Established as it wakefulness, remained unsolved whether this correlates or non-task-driven default mode, also present non-conscious states, like deep (NREM) sleep. NREM sleep seriality breaks down, re-establishes REM (dreams), unaltered spacial structure, terms branching avalanches. conjecture connectivity exploited neural bistability, resetting “parallelizing” portions cortex.