Chapter 13 - Synchrony in nature and brain

Abstract

Synchrony is a universal feature of nature. What is synchronization and how can we probe and measure it? Addressing this question is the main goal in this chapter. We first go back in history discussing how the early Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens observed the synchronization between his famous pendulum clocks. We then show that such synchronization between different oscillators is a most basic and ubiquitous phenomenon in the natural world. Synchronization can be computationally simulated by the Kuramoto model (and other models of synchronization like the Haaken, Kelso-Benz model). We demonstrate that the brain regions can be treated as different oscillators which synchronize with each other yielding both topography and dynamic of the human brain. Finally, we demonstrate that synchronization is not limited to the brain within itself but that it extends beyond the brain to body and the natural and social world. Studies are described where human interaction can be described in terms of synchronization between two or more oscillators. We conclude that synchronization is a most basic and fundamental phenomenon in nature. Since the brain is part of nature, it can also be characterized by synchronization in both its internal global activity and interaction with the external natural and social environment.