We consider the response of complex systems to stimuli and argue for the importance of both sensitivity, the possibility of large response to small stimuli, and robustness, the possibility of small response to large stimuli. Using a dynamic attractor network model for switching of patterns of behavior, we show that the scale-free topologies often found in nature enable more sensitive response to specific changes than do random networks. This property may be essential in networks where appropriate response to environmental change is critical and may, in such systems, be more important than features, such as connectivity, often used to characterize network topologies. Phenomenologically observed exponents for functional scale-free networks fall in a range corresponding to the onset of particularly high sensitivities, while still retaining robustness.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 7. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 25 February 2014.
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#7,408,284
of 34,360,889 outputs
Outputs from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#62,597
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Outputs of similar age
#20,677
of 91,139 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
#331
of 741 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,360,889 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done well and is in the 78th percentile: it's in the top 25% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 118,929 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 40.1. This one is in the 47th percentile – i.e., 47% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 91,139 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done well, scoring higher than 77% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 741 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 55% of its contemporaries.
