Benji

“The dynamics of collective behavior are generated by how individuals interact to adjust collective outcomes to changing conditions. Selection for collective behavior is selection on individuals for how they interact to contribute to collective outcomes. Evolution shapes individual participation because of the ecological consequences of the collective outcomes for the individuals.”
― Deborah M Gordon, The Ecology of Collective Behavior

“Function in brain networks depends on the modularity and strength of interactions. Activity within a module is faster than across a widespread network because there is no need for the signal to travel long distances, and strong connections work faster than weaker, dif- fuse ones. Danielle Bassett and her colleagues showed that perception of visual cues and the response to new events that capture attention arise from strong, localized connections, which easily facilitate change in the activity of nearby nodes. By contrast, learning and cognition are associated with low modularity in the form of weak, long-distance connections. One outcome is that we see faster than we think.”
― Deborah M Gordon, The Ecology of Collective Behavior

“Although some animals are considered to be solitary rather than group-living, they can also be considered to engage in collective behavior. Even the state of aloneness is itself a relation with others. We know this from our own behavior. People who are alone are not removed from the social fabric; avoidance is a form of relation, and the use of language, even in solitude, is a social activity.”
― Deborah M Gordon, The Ecology of Collective Behavior

“Regions of the brain differ in how tightly function is linked to particular cells. For cognitive tasks, f MRI tests on different people, or on the same people at different times, often show that particular functions are performed by groups of neurons but that the locations change; thus, the neurons engaged in cognitive tasks tend to be scattered across the brain.41 Differences in the fidelity of neurons to par- ticular tasks depend on function; the activity of particular neurons varies more for cognitive functions than for more ancestral functions such as vision and olfaction.42 Thus, neurons, like ants, switch tasks or functions, and interactions among groups of neurons regulate their activity.”
― Deborah M Gordon, The Ecology of Collective Behavior