Cellular Automata and Artificial Brain Dynamics

Mathematical and Computational Applications

Acedo, Luis¹  Fraile, Alberto²  Panagiotakis, Emmanouil³  Christakis, Nicholas⁴ 

[1] Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.;Crete Center for Quantum Complexity and Nanotechnology, Department of Physics, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece;Department of Control Engineering, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, 16000 Prague, Czech Republic;Instituto Universitario de Matemática Multidisciplinar, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain

关键词: cellular automata;    game of life;    brain dynamics;   

DOI  :  10.3390/mca23040075

学科分类：计算数学

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Brain dynamics, neuron activity, information transfer in brains, etc., are a vast field where a large number of questions remain unsolved. Nowadays, computer simulation is playing a key role in the study of such an immense variety of problems. In this work, we explored the possibility of studying brain dynamics using cellular automata, more precisely the famous Game of Life (GoL). The model has some important features (i.e., pseudo-criticality, 1/f noise, universal computing), which represent good reasons for its use in brain dynamics modelling. We have also considered that the model maintains sufficient flexibility. For instance, the timestep is arbitrary, as are the spatial dimensions. As first steps in our study, we used the GoL to simulate the evolution of several neurons (i.e., a statistically significant set, typically a million neurons) and their interactions with the surrounding ones, as well as signal transfer in some simple scenarios. The way that signals (or life) propagate across the grid was described, along with a discussion on how this model could be compared with brain dynamics. Further work and variations of the model were also examined.

【 授权许可】

CC BY