Defining criticality in the brain

Establish a definition of criticality applicable to a system as complex as the brain.

Background

The paper distinguishes between signatures associated with criticality and actual critical behavior, noting that correlated responses to latent variables or time-varying inputs can produce such signatures without the brain itself being critical. Because of this complexity, the authors identify the definition of criticality for the brain as an unresolved challenge.

References

Even defining criticality for a system as complex as the brain remains an open challenge.

Emergence of criticality in models of real neurons  (2609.09438 - Carcamo et al., 8 Sep 2026) in Discussion