Detecting triplet locking by triplet synchronization indices

Reconstruction of phase-amplitude dynamics from signals of a network of oscillators

We present a novel method of reconstructing the phase-amplitude dynamics directly from signals of a network of oscillators to estimate the coupling between its nodes. For this purpose, we use the recent advances in the field of phase-amplitude reduction of oscillatory systems, which allow the representation of an uncoupled oscillatory system as a phase-amplitude oscillator in a unique form using transformations (parameterizations) related to the eigenfunctions of the Koopman operator. By combining the parameterization method and the Fourier-Laplace averaging method for finding the eigenfunctions of the Koopman operator, we developed a method of assessing the transformation functions from the signals of the interacting oscillatory systems. The resulting reconstructed dynamical system is a network of phase-amplitude oscillators with the interactions between them represented as coupling functions in phase and amplitude coordinates.

Inferring connectivity of an oscillatory network via the phase dynamics reconstruction

We review an approach for reconstructing oscillatory networks' undirected and directed connectivity from data. The technique relies on inferring the phase dynamics model. The central assumption is that we observe the outputs of all network nodes. We distinguish between two cases. In the first one, the observed signals represent smooth oscillations, while in the second one, the data are pulse-like and can be viewed as point processes. For the first case, we discuss estimating the true phase from a scalar signal, exploiting the protophase-to-phase transformation. With the phases at hand, pairwise and triplet synchronization indices can characterize the undirected connectivity. Next, we demonstrate how to infer the general form of the coupling functions for two or three oscillators and how to use these functions to quantify the directional links. We proceed with a different treatment of networks with more than three nodes. We discuss the difference between the structural and effective phase connectivity that emerges due to high-order terms in the coupling functions. For the second case of point-process data, we use the instants of spikes to infer the phase dynamics model in the Winfree form directly. This way, we obtain the network's coupling matrix in the first approximation in the coupling strength.

High expectations on phase locking: Better quantifying the concentration of circular data

The degree to which unimodal circular data are concentrated around the mean direction can be quantified using the mean resultant length, a measure known under many alternative names, such as the phase locking value or the Kuramoto order parameter. For maximal concentration, achieved when all of the data take the same value, the mean resultant length attains its upper bound of one. However, for a random sample drawn from the circular uniform distribution, the expected value of the mean resultant length achieves its lower bound of zero only as the sample size tends to infinity. Moreover, as the expected value of the mean resultant length depends on the sample size, bias is induced when comparing the mean resultant lengths of samples of different sizes. In order to ameliorate this problem, here, we introduce a re-normalized version of the mean resultant length. Regardless of the sample size, the re-normalized measure has an expected value that is essentially zero for a random sample from the circular uniform distribution, takes intermediate values for partially concentrated unimodal data, and attains its upper bound of one for maximal concentration. The re-normalized measure retains the simplicity of the original mean resultant length and is, therefore, easy to implement and compute. We illustrate the relevance and effectiveness of the proposed re-normalized measure for mathematical models and electroencephalographic recordings of an epileptic seizure.

Dynamical effects of hypergraph links in a network of fractional-order complex systems

In recent times, the fractional-order dynamical networks have gained lots of interest across various scientific communities because it admits some important properties like infinite memory, genetic characteristics, and more degrees of freedom than an integer-order system. Because of these potential applications, the study of the collective behaviors of fractional-order complex networks has been investigated in the literature. In this work, we investigate the influence of higher-order interactions in fractional-order complex systems. We consider both two-body and three-body diffusive interactions. To elucidate the role of higher-order interaction, we show how the network of oscillators is synchronized for different values of fractional-order. The stability of synchronization is studied with a master stability function analysis. Our results show that higher-order interactions among complex networks help the earlier synchronization of networks with a lesser value of first-order coupling strengths in fractional-order complex simplices. Besides that, the fractional-order also shows a notable impact on synchronization of complex simplices. For the lower value of fractional-order, the systems get synchronized earlier, with lesser coupling strengths in both two-body and three-body interactions. To show the generality in the outcome, two neuron models, namely, Hindmarsh-Rose and Morris-Leccar, and a nonlinear Rössler oscillator are considered for our analysis.

Time Window Determination for Inference of Time-Varying Dynamics: Application to Cardiorespiratory Interaction

Interacting dynamical systems abound in nature, with examples ranging from biology and population dynamics, through physics and chemistry, to communications and climate. Often their states, parameters and functions are time-varying, because such systems interact with other systems and the environment, exchanging information and matter. A common problem when analysing time-series data from dynamical systems is how to determine the length of the time window for the analysis. When one needs to follow the time-variability of the dynamics, or the dynamical parameters and functions, the time window needs to be resolved first. We tackled this problem by introducing a method for adaptive determination of the time window for interacting oscillators, as modeled and scaled for the cardiorespiratory interaction. By investigating a system of coupled phase oscillators and utilizing the Dynamical Bayesian Inference method, we propose a procedure to determine the time window and the propagation parameter of the covariance matrix. The optimal values are determined so that the inferred parameters follow the dynamics of the actual ones and at the same time the error of the inference represented by the covariance matrix is minimal. The effectiveness of the methodology is presented on a system of coupled limit-cycle oscillators and on the cardiorespiratory interaction. Three cases of cardiorespiratory interaction were considered-measurement with spontaneous free breathing, one with periodic sine breathing and one with a-periodic time-varying breathing. The results showed that the cardiorespiratory coupling strength and similarity of form of coupling functions have greater values for slower breathing, and this variability follows continuously the change of the breathing frequency. The method can be applied effectively to other time-varying oscillatory interactions and carries important implications for analysis of general dynamical systems.

A practical method for estimating coupling functions in complex dynamical systems

A foremost challenge in modern network science is the inverse problem of reconstruction (inference) of coupling equations and network topology from the measurements of the network dynamics. Of particular interest are the methods that can operate on real (empirical) data without interfering with the system. One such earlier attempt (Tokuda et al. 2007 Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 064101. (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.064101)) was a method suited for general limit-cycle oscillators, yielding both oscillators' natural frequencies and coupling functions between them (phase equations) from empirically measured time series. The present paper reviews the above method in a way comprehensive to domain-scientists other than physics. It also presents applications of the method to (i) detection of the network connectivity, (ii) inference of the phase sensitivity function, (iii) approximation of the interaction among phase-coherent chaotic oscillators, and (iv) experimental data from a forced Van der Pol electric circuit. This reaffirms the range of applicability of the method for reconstructing coupling functions and makes it accessible to a much wider scientific community. This article is part of the theme issue 'Coupling functions: dynamical interaction mechanisms in the physical, biological and social sciences'.

Reconstruction of effective connectivity in the case of asymmetric phase distributions

BACKGROUND

The interaction of different brain regions is supported by transient synchronization between neural oscillations at different frequencies. Different measures based on synchronization theory are used to assess the strength of the interactions from experimental data. One method of estimating the effective connectivity between brain regions, within the framework of the theory of weakly coupled phase oscillators, was implemented in Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) for phase coupling (Penny et al., 2009). However, the results of such an approach strongly depend on the observables used to reconstruct the equations (Kralemann et al., 2008). In particular, an asymmetric distribution of the observables could result in a false estimation of the effective connectivity between the network nodes.

NEW METHOD

In this work we built a new modelling part into DCM for phase coupling, and extended it with a distortion function that accommodates departures from purely sinusoidal oscillations.

RESULTS

By analysing numerically generated data sets with an asymmetric phase distribution, we demonstrated that the extended DCM for phase coupling with the additional modelling component, correctly estimates the coupling functions.

COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS

The new method allows for different intrinsic frequencies among coupled neuronal populations and provides results that do not depend on the distribution of the observables.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed method can be used to analyse effective connectivity between brain regions within and between different frequency bands, to characterize m:n phase coupling, and to unravel underlying mechanisms of the transient synchronization.

Experimental Study of the Triplet Synchronization of Coupled Nonidentical Mechanical Metronomes

Triplet synchrony is an interesting state when the phases and the frequencies of three coupled oscillators fulfill the conditions of a triplet locking, whereas every pair of systems remains asynchronous. Experimental observation of triplet synchrony is firstly realized in three coupled nonidentical mechanical metronomes. A more direct method based on the phase diagram is proposed to observe and determine triplet synchronization. Our results show that the stable triplet synchrony is observed in several intervals of the parameter space. Moreover, the experimental results are verified according to the theoretical model of the coupled metronomes. The outcomes are useful to understand the inner regimes of collective dynamics in coupled oscillators.

Can spurious indications for phase synchronization due to superimposed signals be avoided?

We investigate the relative merit of phase-based methods-mean phase coherence, unweighted and weighted phase lag index-for estimating the strength of interactions between dynamical systems from empirical time series which are affected by common sources and noise. By numerically analyzing the interaction dynamics of coupled model systems, we compare these methods to each other with respect to their ability to distinguish between different levels of coupling for various simulated experimental situations. We complement our numerical studies by investigating consistency and temporal variations of the strength of interactions within and between brain regions using intracranial electroencephalographic recordings from an epilepsy patient. Our findings indicate that the unweighted and weighted phase lag index are less prone to the influence of common sources but that this advantage may lead to constrictions limiting the applicability of these methods.

Dynamical inference: where phase synchronization and generalized synchronization meet

Synchronization is a widespread phenomenon that occurs among interacting oscillatory systems. It facilitates their temporal coordination and can lead to the emergence of spontaneous order. The detection of synchronization from the time series of such systems is of great importance for the understanding and prediction of their dynamics, and several methods for doing so have been introduced. However, the common case where the interacting systems have time-variable characteristic frequencies and coupling parameters, and may also be subject to continuous external perturbation and noise, still presents a major challenge. Here we apply recent developments in dynamical Bayesian inference to tackle these problems. In particular, we discuss how to detect phase slips and the existence of deterministic coupling from measured data, and we unify the concepts of phase synchronization and general synchronization. Starting from phase or state observables, we present methods for the detection of both phase and generalized synchronization. The consistency and equivalence of phase and generalized synchronization are further demonstrated, by the analysis of time series from analog electronic simulations of coupled nonautonomous van der Pol oscillators. We demonstrate that the detection methods work equally well on numerically simulated chaotic systems. In all the cases considered, we show that dynamical Bayesian inference can clearly identify noise-induced phase slips and distinguish coherence from intrinsic coupling-induced synchronization.