Information transfer and behavioural inertia in starling flocks

Collective decision-making in biological systems requires all individuals in the group to go through a behavioural change of state. During this transition fast and robust transfer of information is essential to prevent cohesion loss. The mechanism by which natural groups achieve such robustness, how...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Attanasi, Alessandro, Cavagna, Andrea, del Castello, Lorenzo, Giardina, Irene, Grigera, Tomás Sebastián, Jelic, Asla, Melillo, Stefania, Parisi, Leonardo, Pohl, Oliver, Shen, Edward, Viale, Massimiliano
Formato: Articulo Preprint
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2014
Materias:
Física
Biología
Flocking
Biological physics
Phase transitions and critical phenomena
Quantum fluids and solids
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/104555
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/5144
Aporte de:
SEDICI (UNLP) de Universidad Nacional de La Plata
id I19-R120-10915-104555
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Física
Biología
Flocking
Biological physics
Phase transitions and critical phenomena
Quantum fluids and solids
spellingShingle Física
Biología
Flocking
Biological physics
Phase transitions and critical phenomena
Quantum fluids and solids
Attanasi, Alessandro
Cavagna, Andrea
del Castello, Lorenzo
Giardina, Irene
Grigera, Tomás Sebastián
Jelic, Asla
Melillo, Stefania
Parisi, Leonardo
Pohl, Oliver
Shen, Edward
Viale, Massimiliano
Information transfer and behavioural inertia in starling flocks
topic_facet Física
Biología
Flocking
Biological physics
Phase transitions and critical phenomena
Quantum fluids and solids
description Collective decision-making in biological systems requires all individuals in the group to go through a behavioural change of state. During this transition fast and robust transfer of information is essential to prevent cohesion loss. The mechanism by which natural groups achieve such robustness, however, is not clear. Here we present an experimental study of starling flocks performing collective turns. We find that information about direction changes propagates across the flock with a linear dispersion law and negligible attenuation, hence minimizing group decoherence. These results contrast starkly with present models of collective motion, which predict diffusive transport of information. Building on spontaneous symmetry breaking and conservation-law arguments, we formulate a theory that correctly reproduces linear and undamped propagation. Essential to this framework is the inclusion of the birds? behavioural inertia. The theory not only explains the data, but also predicts that information transfer must be faster the stronger the group’s orientational order, a prediction accurately verified by the data. Our results suggest that swift decision-making may be the adaptive drive for the strong behavioural polarization observed in many living groups.
format Articulo
Preprint
author Attanasi, Alessandro
Cavagna, Andrea
del Castello, Lorenzo
Giardina, Irene
Grigera, Tomás Sebastián
Jelic, Asla
Melillo, Stefania
Parisi, Leonardo
Pohl, Oliver
Shen, Edward
Viale, Massimiliano
author_facet Attanasi, Alessandro
Cavagna, Andrea
del Castello, Lorenzo
Giardina, Irene
Grigera, Tomás Sebastián
Jelic, Asla
Melillo, Stefania
Parisi, Leonardo
Pohl, Oliver
Shen, Edward
Viale, Massimiliano
author_sort Attanasi, Alessandro
title Information transfer and behavioural inertia in starling flocks
title_short Information transfer and behavioural inertia in starling flocks
title_full Information transfer and behavioural inertia in starling flocks
title_fullStr Information transfer and behavioural inertia in starling flocks
title_full_unstemmed Information transfer and behavioural inertia in starling flocks
title_sort information transfer and behavioural inertia in starling flocks
publishDate 2014
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/104555
http://hdl.handle.net/11336/5144
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