Optimal Size for Maximal Energy Efficiency in Information Processing of Biological Systems Due to Bistability

Energy efficiency is closely related to the evolution of biological systems and is important to their information processing. In this work, we calculate the excitation probability of a simple model of a bistable biological unit in response to pulsatile inputs, and its spontaneous excitation rate due...

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Published inChinese physics letters Vol. 32; no. 11; pp. 5 - 8
Main Author 张弛 刘利伟 王龙飞 岳园 俞连春
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.11.2015
Subjects
Arrays
Computational efficiency
Computing time
Data processing
Energy management
Excitation
Mathematical models
Optimization
信息处理
双稳态
生物系统
能源成本
能源效率
能量效率
脉冲输入
自然选择
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ISSN0256-307X
1741-3540
DOI10.1088/0256-307X/32/11/110501

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Summary:Energy efficiency is closely related to the evolution of biological systems and is important to their information processing. In this work, we calculate the excitation probability of a simple model of a bistable biological unit in response to pulsatile inputs, and its spontaneous excitation rate due to noise perturbation. Then we analytically calculate the mutual information, energy cost, and energy efficiency of an array of these bistable units. We find that the optimal number of units could maximize this array＇s energy efficiency in encoding pulse inputs, which depends on the fixed energy cost. We conclude that demand for energy efficiency in biological systems may strongly influence the size of these systems under the pressure of natural selection.
Bibliography:11-1959/O4
Energy efficiency is closely related to the evolution of biological systems and is important to their information processing. In this work, we calculate the excitation probability of a simple model of a bistable biological unit in response to pulsatile inputs, and its spontaneous excitation rate due to noise perturbation. Then we analytically calculate the mutual information, energy cost, and energy efficiency of an array of these bistable units. We find that the optimal number of units could maximize this array＇s energy efficiency in encoding pulse inputs, which depends on the fixed energy cost. We conclude that demand for energy efficiency in biological systems may strongly influence the size of these systems under the pressure of natural selection.
ZHANG Chi, LIU Li-Wei, WANG Long-Fei, YUE Yuan, YU Lian-Chun（Cuiying Honors College, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 2 College of Electrical Engineering, Northwest University for Nationalities, Lanzhou 730070 3Institute of Theoretical Physics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 4Key Laboratory for Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of the Ministry of Education, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000）
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ISSN:0256-307X
1741-3540
DOI:10.1088/0256-307X/32/11/110501