EAGER: Collaborative Research: The Perceptual Basis of Collective Behavior in a Model Vertebrate

生物学的一个基本问题是理解复杂系统是如何通过其组成部分之间的相互作用而工作的。在许多动物群体中，如鱼群或成群的鸟类，协调运动被认为是个体之间自组织社会互动的结果。然而，对于群体内的生物体所关注的社会线索以及它们如何在决策过程中整合这些线索，或者这些相互作用如何产生集体行为，我们知之甚少。该研究结合了新颖的实验和计算方法，以斑马鱼为实验模型来研究感觉输入和集体行为之间的关系。这项研究的重点是视觉，这在许多动物群体的协调中是必不可少的。研究人员将：(a)描述视觉系统的关键维度，(b)使用这些感官信息来模拟社会线索的视觉显著性，(c)将斑马鱼的视觉信息纳入当前的模型中，以跟踪真实鱼群中个体的运动，(d)开发和实施新技术来调查行为反应，(e)在操纵群体同伴的视觉显著性的实验条件下测量这些行为反应。最终，这个项目将增加我们对生物如何以及为什么在群体中协调它们的行为的理解。PI和合作者将通过出版物向更广泛的科学界传播结果和技术，并向广大听众和学校进行公开讲座。

A fundamental problem in biology is understanding how complex systems work from interactions among its components. In many animal groups, such as schooling fish or flocking birds, coordinated movements are thought to result from self-organizing social interactions among individuals. However, little is known about the social cues that the organisms within groups pay attention to and how they integrate them during decision-making, or how these interactions produce collective behavior. The proposed research combines novel experimental and computational approaches to investigate the relationship between sensory input and collective behavior using zebrafish as an experimental model. The research focuses on vision, which is essential in the coordination of many animal groups. The researchers will: (a) characterize key dimensions of the visual system, (b) use this sensory information to model the visual saliency of social cues, (c) incorporate the zebrafish visual information in current models that track the motion of individuals in real shoals, (d) develop and implement new technologies to investigate behavioral responses, and (e) measure these behavioral responses under experimental conditions that manipulate the visual saliency of group mates. Ultimately, this project will increase our understanding of how and why organisms coordinate their behavior in groups. The PI and collaborator will disseminate the results and technologies to the broader scientific community through publications, and give public lectures to broad audiences and schools.