A Whole-Mouse-Brain Model of Coupled Neural Masses: Analysis of Network Dynamics

In a whole-mouse-brain network of 434 coupled Jansen-Rit neural masses, oscillations are chaotic for the empirical connectome, with a positive maximum Lyapunov exponent.

• Why it matters: Coupled neural mass models using empirical structural connectomes are common, yet the delay-coupled network dynamics—where activity must oscillate versus rest—are not well characterized.
• What they did: They analyzed network equilibria via pseudo-arclength continuation while assessing delayed stability using Beyn’s contour-integral method, then tested chaos and synchrony with simulations under weight modifications.
• The result: Chaos grows with network size and coupling scale and is insensitive to conduction delays, but flattening, shuffling, or rewiring connection weights suppresses chaos, drives full synchrony, and abolishes metastability.

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