Scale laws

Overview & Synopsis

Scale free dynamics and scale invariance are universal characteristics of complex systems in nature. 1/f or long-range temporal correlations or pink noise is also a self-generated/correlated brain noise that coexists with periodic brain oscillations in a non predominant temporal fashion. For a long time this kind of noise has been ignored in experimental manipulations or analyses because thought to be the expression of instrumental noise. Nowadays, instead, recent evidence speaks in favour of the functional significance of the 1/f and its spatiotemporal organisation at different levels. However, further investigation is needed in order to unveil the relationship between each specific 1/f noise (across individuals, behavioural tasks, across different natural phenomena…). Outline of the lecture: 1. Power-law distributions in nature 2. Types of noise 3. 1/f as a signature of complexity 4. Debate between brain oscillations and noise 5. New perspectives on 1/f: functional significance and temporal organisation