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We develop a biophysically realistic model of the nematode C. elegans that includes: (i) its muscle structure and activation, (ii) key connectomic activation circuitry, and (iii) a weighted and time-dynamic proprioception. In combination,…

Biological circuits such as neural or gene regulation networks use internal states to map sensory input to an adaptive repertoire of behavior. Characterizing this mapping is a major challenge for systems biology, and though experiments that…

The continuous integration of experimental data into coherent models of the brain is an increasing challenge of modern neuroscience. Such models provide a bridge between structure and activity, and identify the mechanisms giving rise to…

The brain is in a state of perpetual reverberant neural activity, even in the absence of specific tasks or stimuli. Shedding light on the origin and functional significance of such a dynamical state is essential to understanding how the…

Inhibitory interneurons, ubiquitous in the central nervous system, form networks connected through both chemical synapses and gap junctions. These networks are essential for regulating the activity of principal neurons, especially by…

Stylized models of the neurodynamics that underpin sensory motor control in animals are proposed and studied. The voluntary motions of animals are typically initiated by high level intentions created in the primary cortex through a…

Ordered phases emerged in active suspensions of polar swimmers are under long-wavelength hydrodynamic mediated instabilities. In this letter, we show that chemical molecules dissolved in aqueous suspensions, as an unavoidable part of most…

Active particles such as swimming bacteria or self-propelled colloids are known to spontaneously organize into fascinating large-scale dynamic structures. The emergence of these collective states from the motility pattern of the individual…

The neural dynamics of the nematode C. elegans are experimentally low-dimensional and correspond to discrete behavioral states, where previous modeling work has found neural proxies for some of these states. Experimental results further…

Limbless locomotors, from microscopic worms to macroscopic snakes, traverse complex, heterogeneous natural environments typically using undulatory body wave propagation. Theoretical and robophysical models typically emphasize body…

Recurrent neural network-based reinforcement learning systems are capable of complex motor control tasks such as locomotion and manipulation, however, much of their underlying mechanisms still remain difficult to interpret. Our aim is to…

The green alga {\it Chlamydomonas} swims with synchronized beating of its two flagella, and is experimentally observed to exhibit run-and-tumble behaviour similar to bacteria. Recently we studied a simple hydrodynamic three-sphere model of…

Neuronal spiking exhibits an exquisite combination of modulation and robustness properties, rarely matched in artificial systems. We exploit the particular interconnection structure of conductance based models to investigate this remarkable…

In a cellular medium, the plasmic membrane is a place of interactions between the cell and its direct external environment. A classic model describes it as a fluid mosaic. The fluid phase of the membrane allows a lateral degree of freedom…

Motor systems show an overall robustness, but because they are highly nonlinear, understanding how they achieve robustness is difficult. In many rhythmic systems, robustness against perturbations involves response of both the shape and the…

Fluid-structure interactions between active and passive components are important for many biological systems to function. A particular example is chromatin in the cell nucleus, where ATP-powered processes drive coherent motions of the…

Deep reinforcement learning (deep RL) has emerged as an effective tool for developing controllers for legged robots. However, vanilla deep RL often requires a tremendous amount of training samples and is not feasible for achieving robust…

Rhythmogenesis, which is critical for many biological functions, involves a transition to coherent activity through cell-cell communication. In the absence of centralized coordination by specialized cells (pacemakers), competing oscillating…

Phase separation within polymer networks plays a central role in shaping the structure and mechanics of both synthetic materials and living cells, including the formation of biomolecular condensates within cytoskeletal networks. Previous…

Mesh-like structures, such as mucus gel or cytoskeleton networks, are ubiquitous in biological systems. These intricate structures are composed of cross-linked, semi-flexible bio-filaments, crucial to numerous biological processes. In many…