The role of dynamics is self-organizing biological flow systems

Biological flow networks, such as animal vasculature or the slime mold Physarum polycephalum, are living and malleable. Throughout the life of the organism, they can continually change their topology and overall structure to respond to varying stimuli and environmental conditions, in order to keep fulfilling their functions optimally. This is exemplified in vascular remodeling, the continuous growth and restructuring of animal vasculature as a result of injury, exercise, pregnancy, or disease. Beyond their ability to adapt at long timescales (weeks) using local rules, biological networks have dynamics in much smaller timescales (seconds), due to variability in the forcings that drive the flow, e.g. the heart. The interactions of the fast dynamics with the slow adaptation manifests in vascular disease, and yet these effects are not well understood, especially at the system level. In this talk we will provide a brief overview and introduction of self-organization and pattern formation in flow systems, and describe the role of local adaptive rules in pattern formation and solving complex optimization problems. We will then present some recent results on how dynamics, and in particular pulsatility in the flow can change the patterns.