Memory in neural activity: long-range order without criticality

The ''criticality hypothesis'', based on observed scale-free correlations in neural activity, posits that the brain operates at a critical point of transition between two phases. However, the validity of this hypothesis is still debated. Here, employing a commonly used model of cortical dynamics, we find that a phase of long-range order (LRO) in neural activity may be induced by memory (time non-locality) without invoking criticality. The cortical dynamics model contains fast and slow time scales that govern the neural and resource (memory) dynamics, respectively. When the resource dynamics are sufficiently slow, we observe an LRO phase, which manifests in avalanche size and duration probability distributions that are scale-free and satisfy finite-size scaling. When the slow and fast time scales are no longer sufficiently distinct, LRO is destroyed. Since this LRO phase spans a wide range of parameters, it is robust against perturbations, unlike critical systems.