We combine theoretical physics and precision experiments with biological and computational insight to understand the behavior of organisms
What are the fundamental principles governing how animals move, interact, make decisions, and adapt to their environment? To discover these principles, the Biological Physics Theory Unit is pioneering a new, interdisciplinary science which combines physical and computational approaches with biological insight. We develop quantitative methods to measure and analyze behavior at high resolution, construct theoretical models to explain the observed dynamics, and explore these models for deeper insight. Our science ranges across scales in both length and time, from posture deformations of the millimeter-sized nematodeC. elegans and Drosophila larva, to social groups of fish and squid, to entire (insect) societies, and from the sub-second timing of motor control to hours-long behavioral states.