Cogn Neurodyn (2013) manuscript No. (will be inserted by the editor) A modular latching chain

Abstract Many cognitive tasks involve transitions be-tween distinct mental processes, which may range from discrete states to complex strategies. The ability of cor-tical networks to combine discrete jumps with contin-uous glides along ever changing trajectories, dubbed latching dynamics, may be essential for the emergence of the unique cognitive capacities of modern human-s. Novel trajectories have to be followed in the mul-tidimensional space of cortical activity for novel be-haviours to be produced; yet, not everything changes: several lines of evidence point at recurring patterns in the sequence of activation of cortical areas in a vari-ety of behaviours. To extend a mathematical model of latching dynamics beyond the simple unstructured auto-associative Potts network previously analysed, we introduce delayed structured connectivity and hetero-associative connection weights, and we explore their ef-fects on the dynamics. A modular model in the small-world (SW) regime is considered, with modules arranged on a ring. The synaptic weights include a standard auto-associative component, stabilizing distinct patterns of activity, and a hetero-associative component, favoring transitions from one pattern, expressed in one module, to the next, in the next module. We then study, through simulations, how structural parameters, like those regu-lating rewiring probability, noise and feedback connec-tions, determine sequential association dynamics