The Mathematical Biology of Diatoms

9The Psychophysical World of the Motile Diatom Bacillaria paradoxa

Bradly Alicea^1,2*, Richard Gordon^3,4 and Jesse Parent²

¹ Open Worm Foundation, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

² Orthogonal Research and Education Laboratory, Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, USA

³ Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, Panacea, Florida, USA

⁴ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Abstract

There are a large number of candidate hypotheses for the movement of diatoms, a taxonomic group of Algae. In particular, the genus Bacillaria exhibits highly interesting movement dynamics resembling a number of physical systems. None of these hypotheses account for the information processing that might result from the connection between environmental stimuli (e.g., photic, chemical, turbulence, and temperature gradients, and mechanical constraints) and motility. Even when there is no significant variation in terms of sensory input, the colonial structure is coordinated and mediated through information processing. Here, we propose a series of perspectives on how the concept of aneural cognition might explain the movement dynamics of individual colonies. More specifically, we can use analogies of neuronal mechanisms such as collective pattern generators, Hebbian learning, and predictive processing to understand and explore the potential for behavior generation. Quantitatively, these mechanisms can be summarized using psychophysical metrics, particularly the Weber-Fechner ...