Meeting Abstract

13.10  Friday, Jan. 4  Information theory illuminates the evolution of homeostasis WOODS, H.A.*; WILSON, J.K.; Univ. of Montana; Univ. of Montana art.woods@mso.umt.edu

A common view among physiologists is that homeostasis evolves to protect organisms from the damaging extremes of variation in physiological factors. Here we propose that homeostasis also evolves to minimize noise in physiological channels. Fluctuations in physiological factors constitute inescapable or global noise that corrupts the transfer of information through physiological systems. We apply information theory to homeostasis to develop three related ideas. First, because fluctuations of physiological factors are systemic and affect such basic cellular components, many common modes of noise cancellation (filtering, private channels) won’t work. Homeostasis and signal redundancy are the only options. Second, homeostatic regulation creates quiet physiological backgrounds for the transmission of all kinds of physiological information. Third, because homeostatic systems act as coupled pairs of transmitters and receivers, the performance of any one homeostatic system influences information processing in all other homeostatic systems. This dependence implies that multiple homeostatic systems, embedded within individual organisms, should show strongly synergistic or emergent effects. This new view emphasizes that selection may work on subtle dysfunctions arising from disturbance to communication networks at all levels of sub-organismal organization, and it frames death as a kind of runaway physiological noise.