Collective predator evasion: Putting the criticality hypothesis to the test

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Author summary Collective intelligence relies on efficient processing of information within the collective. Complex systems theory suggests that collective information processing is optimal at the border between order and disorder, i.e. at a critical point. However, for animal collectives fundamental questions remain open regarding the “criticality hypothesis”, its ecological relevance, and mechanisms for self-organization towards criticality. Using a spatially explicit model of collective predator avoidance, we show that schooling prey performance is indeed optimal at criticality, but surprisingly not due to optimal collective response but due to the emergent dynamical group structure. More importantly, this structural sensitivity makes the critical state evolutionary highly unstable in the context of predator-prey interactions, and demonstrates the decisive importance of spatial self-organization in collective animal behavior.

Collective predator evasion: Putting the criticality hypothesis to the test | PLOS Computational Biology Article Authors Metrics Comments Media Coverage Reader Comments Figures Figures Abstract According to the criticality hypothesis , collective biological systems should operate in a special parameter region, close to so-called critical points, where the collective behavior undergoes a qualitative change between different dynamical regimes. Critical systems exhibit unique properties, which may benefit collective information processing such as maximal responsiveness to external stimuli. Beside

Collective predator evasion: Putting the criticality hypothesis to the test

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