Exploiting Environmental Computation in a Multi-Agent Model of Slime\n Mould

2015/11/24 by Jeff Jones, Jones, Jeff
Engineering · #Emerging Technologies (cs.ET) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Slime Mold and Myxomycetes Research

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1511.07647

openalex publication_date 2015/11/24 · openalex created_date 2022/10/03 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

Very simple organisms, such as the single-celled amoeboid slime mould\nPhysarum polycephalum possess no neural tissue yet, despite this, are known to\nexhibit complex biological and computational behaviour. Given such limited\nresources, can environmental stimuli play a role in generating the complexity\nof slime mould behaviour? We use a multi-agent collective model of slime mould\nto explore a two-way mechanism where the collective behaviour is influenced by\nsimulated chemical concentration gradient fields and, in turn, this behaviour\nalters the spatial pattern of the concentration gradients. This simple\nmechanism yields complex behaviour amid the dynamically changing gradient\nprofiles and suggests how the apparently intelligent response of the slime\nmould could possibly be due to outsourcing of computation to the environment.\n

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