Date: May 17, 2017
Source: Hokkaido University
Understanding how ant colonies
make collective decisions could provide insight into the functioning of the
human brain.
Yes/no binary decisions by
individual ants can lead to a rational decision as a collective when the
individuals have differing preferences to the subject, according to research
recently published in the journal Royal Society Open Science. This binary
mechanism of decision-making could provide a basis for understanding how
neurons in the human brain, which also make binary choices, work together.
Honey bees are known to
"dance" with varying levels of enthusiasm depending on the quality of
nectar they find. The more attractive the nectar is, the stronger they dance,
appealing to other members. As a result, the majority of the members, and later
the entire colony, gather to the better option. However, this mechanism doesn't
explain how a collective rationality within the brain is made because neurons
can only make binary decisions.
Tatsuhiro Yamamoto and Eisuke
Hasegawa of Hokkaido University's Laboratory of Animal Ecology set up six
experimental colonies of 56 Myrmica kotokui ants. Each individual ant was
marked to distinguish them from one another.
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