The metastable brain
Open accessAbstract
Neural ensembles oscillate across a broad range of frequencies and are transiently coupled or "bound" together when people attend to a stimulus, perceive, think, and act. This is a dynamic, self-assembling process, with parts of the brain engaging and disengaging in time. But how is it done? The theory of Coordination Dynamics proposes a mechanism called metastability, a subtle blend of integration and segregation. Tendencies for brain regions to express their individual autonomy and specialized functions (segregation, modularity) coexist with tendencies to couple and coordinate globally for multiple functions (integration). Although metastability has garnered increasing attention, it has yet to be demonstrated and treated within a fully spatiotemporal perspective. Here, we illustrate metastability in continuous neural and behavioral recordings, and we discuss theory and experiments at multiple scales, suggesting that metastable dynamics underlie the real-time coordination necessary for the brain's dynamic cognitive, behavioral, and social functions.
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Adaptive priors are inherited expectations about the world shaped by natural selection to guide action-perception cycles toward adaptive (unsurprising) states.
“Emphasis is placed on adaptive priorsinherited expectations about the way our world unfolds that have been shaped by natural selection to guide action-perception cycles toward adaptive (i.e., unsurprising) states [5,12].”
From The depressed brain: an evolutionary systems theory (2017) · cites this paper as [5]
Every organism lowers the disorder of its sensory and bodily states by reducing free energy.
“It suggests that all organisms actively reduce the entropy (i.e.disorder or dispersion) of their sensory and physical states by minimising free-energy.”
From The depressed brain: an evolutionary systems theory (2017) · cites this paper as [5]
Homeostasis translates into a proximal avoidance of surprise.
“Thus, an organism's distal imperative of maintaining functional states within physiological bounds (i.e., homeostasis) translates into a proximal avoidance of surprise [5].”
From The depressed brain: an evolutionary systems theory (2017) · cites this paper as [5]
The free-energy principle is intended to account for how living systems preserve their integrity by staying within a restricted set of states.
“The FEP seeks to explain how biological systems maintain their integrity by occupying a constricted number of states [5].”
From The depressed brain: an evolutionary systems theory (2017) · cites this paper as [5]
The brain traverses a metastable state-space over time, balancing segregated processing with global coordination and integration.
“There is now growing evidence to support the notion that the brain traverses a metastable state-space in time (Deco et al., 2015), balancing the opposing tendencies for specialized, segregated processing with the need for global coordination and integration (Tognoli and Kelso, 2014).”
From The Dynamics of Functional Brain Networks: Integrated Network States during Cognitive Task Performance (2016) · cites this paper as Tognoli and Kelso, 2014
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References 178 · Cited by 718
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Fuchs A Nonlinear Dynamics in Complex Systems 2013 Berlin, Heidelberg Springer
- Haken H Synergetics: an Introduction Springer Series in Synergetics 1983 Berlin Springer
- Kelso JAS Meyers RA Coordination Dynamics Encyclopedia of Complexity and System Science 2009 Heidelberg Springer 1537 1564
- Pattee HH Grene M Mendelsohn E Physical theories of biological coordination Topics in the Philosophy of Biology 1976 Vol. 27 Boston Reidel 153 173
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- Authors
- Tognoli, E., & Kelso, J. A. S.
- Affiliations
- Florida Atlantic University (US)
- University of Ulster (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Tognoli, Emmanuelle
- Kelso, J. A. Scott
- Venue
- Neuron
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-01
- Volume
- 81
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 35-48
- ISSN
- 0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3997258
- OpenAlex
- W1987430298
- Cited by
- 718
- References
- 178
- Citations by year
- 2026: 88 · 2025: 71 · 2024: 56 · 2023: 73 · 2022: 69 · 2021: 73 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 51 · 2017: 55 · 2016: 34 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 4.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuron (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Office of Naval Research
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH-080838, R01MH080838)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Networks and Communications › Nonlinear Dynamics and Pattern Formation
- Keywords
- metastability, coordination dynamics, neuronal ensembles, neural oscillations, integration and segregation, neural coupling, spatiotemporal dynamics, cognitive coordination, social cognition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Brain, Humans, Models, Neurological, Neural Pathways, Neuronal Plasticity, Neurons
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