SYNCHRONIZATION IN A PLASMODIAL STRAND OF PHYSARUM-POLYCEPHALUM AS A ONE-DIMENSIONALLY COUPLED OSCILLATOR SYSTEM

Transient behaviors in self-sustained oscillation of a plasmodial strand of Physarum polycephalum have been investigated for various external loads under isotonic conditions. Synchronization between divisions of the strand has been observed in its formation process, which shows that the plasmodial strand can be considered as a one-dimensionally coupled oscillator system. The synchronization has been found to proceed faster with increasing external load applied to the strand. It has furthermore been found that the rate of increase of the amplitude of oscillation increases with the load, whereas the temporal behavior of its period is independent of the load. These results show that the oscillators themselves in the plasmodial strand do not depend on the external load, but the coupling between these oscillators is strongly affected with the external load. The experimental results have also been simulated on the basis of one-dimensionally coupled van der Pol equations.