Landau–Ginzburg theory of cortex dynamics: Scale-free avalanches emerge at the edge of synchronization

Significance The human cortex operates in a state of restless activity, the meaning and functionality of which are still not understood. A fascinating, though controversial, hypothesis, partially backed by empirical evidence, suggests that the cortex might work at the edge of a phase transition, from which important functional advantages stem. However, the nature of such a transition remains elusive. Here, we adopt ideas from the physics of phase transitions to construct a general (Landau–Ginzburg) theory of cortical networks, allowing us to analyze their possible collective phases and phase transitions. We conclude that the empirically reported scale-invariant avalanches can possibly come about if the cortex operated at the edge of a synchronization phase transition, at which neuronal avalanches and incipient oscillations coexist.