CAREER: Principles of Firefly Rhythmic Synchronization

在大型动物群体中，由于存在多个信号和来自环境的干扰，生物交流经常伴随着巨大的噪声水平。处理噪声的一种常见方法是同步信号，这样个体就能发出一致的信号。在广泛的生物体(青蛙、鱼、鸟类和灵长类)中，经过充分研究的同步动物群体中的交流以复杂的信号为特征。相比之下，PI将与一个易于处理的萤火虫种群模型系统一起工作，在该系统中，通信信号是可视的，采用近似数字闪光的形式，并且在三维中可视跟踪，即使在大群活动的个体中也是如此。PI将以萤火虫群为模型系统，将野外和实验室实验与物理和信息理论相结合，以实现信号同步。这将使我们对沟通策略的理解取得根本性的进步，并使PI能够整合各种长度和时间范围的模型和实验。PI将专注于信号同步的基本方面。PI将使用创新的萤火虫野外记录技术和虚拟现实(VR)系统来获得萤火虫闪烁的定量时空记录，并通过将萤火虫暴露在精心设计的视觉刺激下来测试有关同步交流的假设。这些信息丰富的数据集将促进基于代理的可能潜在机制模型的开发和验证。反过来，建模可以为实验设计提供反馈，并作为设计VR刺激的工具，其反应将验证或反驳给定的假设。这种相互交织的理论-实验方法将通过同时改进模型和实验来实现前所未有的模型验证水平，直到基本原理被提取和澄清。同样的方法将直接告知PI的教育目标，因为他们开发了一门课程，通过计算和实验数据的可视化让学生参与动物交流的概念。因此，这一职业奖项将从根本上促进PI的长期目标，因为它提供了对实现同步的原则的洞察，并将获得的萤火虫数据纳入STEM教育。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Biological communication in large animal groups is often accompanied by immense noise levels due to the presence of multiple signals and interference from the environment. One common way to deal with noise is to synchronize the signals, so that individuals signal in unison. Communication in well-studied synchronous animal groups across a broad range of organisms (frogs, fish, birds, and primates) is characterized by complex signals. In contrast, the PI will work with a tractable model system of firefly swarms where communication signals are visual, in the form of approximately digital light flashes, and visually traceable in three dimensions, even throughout large swarms of motile individuals. The PI will combine field and lab experiments with physical and information-theoretic theories for signal synchronization, using firefly swarms as a model system. This will enable fundamental advances in our understanding of communication strategies and enable the PI to integrate models and experiments across a wide range of length and time scales. The PI will focus on fundamental aspects of signal synchronization. The PI will use innovative field-recording technologies for fireflies and Virtual Reality (VR) systems to obtain quantitative spatiotemporal recordings of firefly flashes and test hypotheses about synchronous communication by exposing the fireflies to carefully designed visual stimulus. These information-rich datasets will facilitate the development and validation of agent-based models of possible underlying mechanisms. In turn, modeling can provide feedback on experiment design and serve as a tool to design VR stimuli whose responses will either validate or disprove a given hypothesis. This interwoven theory-experiment approach will allow an unprecedented level of model validation via simultaneous refinement of both models and experiments until the underlying principles are extracted and clarified. The same approach will directly inform the PI's educational goals as they develop a class that will engage students in concepts of animal communication via visualization of computational and experimental data. Therefore, this CAREER award will fundamentally advance the PI's long-term goals by providing insight into the principles that enable synchronization and incorporating the acquired firefly data in STEM education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.