A tunable algorithm for collective decision-making.

ABSTRACT: Complex biological systems are increasingly understood in terms of the algorithms that guide the behavior of system components and the information pathways that link them. Much attention has been given to robust algorithms, or those that allow a system to maintain its functions in the face of internal or external perturbations. At the same time, environmental variation imposes a complementary need for algorithm versatility, or the ability to alter system function adaptively as external circumstances change. An important goal of systems biology is thus the identification of biological algorithms that can meet multiple challenges rather than being narrowly specified to particular problems. Here we show that emigrating colonies of the ant Temnothorax curvispinosus tune the parameters of a sin

SUBMITTER: Pratt SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1635101 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature