arXiv subjects

Tosif Ahamed

Publications and source records attributed to Tosif Ahamed.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

A Markovian dynamics for C. elegans behavior across scales

How do we capture the breadth of behavior in animal movement, from rapid body twitches to aging? Using high-resolution videos of the nematode worm $C. elegans$, we show that a single dynamics connects posture-scale fluctuations with trajectory diffusion, and longer-lived behavioral states. We take short posture sequences as an instantaneous behavioral measure, fixing the sequence length for maximal prediction. Within the space of posture sequences we construct a fine-scale, maximum entropy partition so that transitions among microstates define a high-fidelity Markov model, which we also use as a means of principled coarse-graining. We translate these dynamics into movement using resistive force theory, capturing the statistical properties of foraging trajectories. Predictive across scales, we leverage the longest-lived eigenvectors of the inferred Markov chain to perform a top-down subdivision of the worm's foraging behavior, revealing both "runs-and-pirouettes" as well as previously uncharacterized finer-scale behaviors. We use our model to investigate the relevance of these fine-scale behaviors for foraging success, recovering a trade-off between local and global search strategies.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2023

Maximally predictive states: from partial observations to long timescales

Isolating slower dynamics from fast fluctuations has proven remarkably powerful, but how do we proceed from partial observations of dynamical systems for which we lack underlying equations? Here, we construct maximally-predictive states by concatenating measurements in time, partitioning the resulting sequences using maximum entropy, and choosing the sequence length to maximize short-time predictive information. Transitions between these states yield a simple approximation of the transfer operator, which we use to reveal timescale separation and long-lived collective modes through the operator spectrum. Applicable to both deterministic and stochastic processes, we illustrate our approach through partial observations of the Lorenz system and the stochastic dynamics of a particle in a double-well potential. We use our transfer operator approach to provide a new estimator of the Kolmogorov-Sinai entropy, which we demonstrate in discrete and continuous-time systems, as well as the movement behavior of the nematode worm $C. elegans$.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2020

Adaptive, locally-linear models of complex dynamics

The dynamics of complex systems generally include high-dimensional, non-stationary and non-linear behavior, all of which pose fundamental challenges to quantitative understanding. To address these difficulties we detail a new approach based on local linear models within windows determined adaptively from the data. While the dynamics within each window are simple, consisting of exponential decay, growth and oscillations, the collection of local parameters across all windows provides a principled characterization of the full time series. To explore the resulting model space, we develop a novel likelihood-based hierarchical clustering and we examine the eigenvalues of the linear dynamics. We demonstrate our analysis with the Lorenz system undergoing stable spiral dynamics and in the standard chaotic regime. Applied to the posture dynamics of the nematode $C. elegans$ our approach identifies fine-grained behavioral states and model dynamics which fluctuate close to an instability boundary, and we detail a bifurcation in a transition from forward to backward crawling. Finally, we analyze whole-brain imaging in $C. elegans$ and show that the stability of global brain states changes with oxygen concentration.

q-bio.QM↗

arXiv2019

Capturing the Continuous Complexity of Behavior in C. elegans

Animal behavior is often quantified through subjective, incomplete variables that may mask essential dynamics. Here, we develop a behavioral state space in which the full instantaneous state is smoothly unfolded as a combination of short-time posture dynamics. Our technique is tailored to multivariate observations and extends previous reconstructions through the use of maximal prediction. Applied to high-resolution video recordings of the roundworm \textit{C. elegans}, we discover a low-dimensional state space dominated by three sets of cyclic trajectories corresponding to the worm's basic stereotyped motifs: forward, backward, and turning locomotion. In contrast to this broad stereotypy, we find variability in the presence of locally-unstable dynamics, and this unpredictability shows signatures of deterministic chaos: a collection of unstable periodic orbits together with a positive maximal Lyapunov exponent. The full Lyapunov spectrum is symmetric with positive, chaotic exponents driving variability balanced by negative, dissipative exponents driving stereotypy. The symmetry is indicative of damped, driven Hamiltonian dynamics underlying the worm's movement control.

q-bio.NC↗