Dynamically analyzing cell interactions in biological environments using multiagent social learning framework

• Main Authors: Chengwei Zhang, Xiaohong Li, Shuxin Li, Zhiyong Feng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2017-09-01
• Series: Journal of Biomedical Semantics
• Subjects: Multiagent learning; Cell interaction; Nonlinear dynamic
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13326-017-0142-0

Abstract Background Biological environment is uncertain and its dynamic is similar to the multiagent environment, thus the research results of the multiagent system area can provide valuable insights to the understanding of biology and are of great significance for the study of biology. Learning in a multiagent environment is highly dynamic since the environment is not stationary anymore and each agent’s behavior changes adaptively in response to other coexisting learners, and vice versa. The dynamics becomes more unpredictable when we move from fixed-agent interaction environments to multiagent social learning framework. Analytical understanding of the underlying dynamics is important and challenging. Results In this work, we present a social learning framework with homogeneous learners (e.g., Policy Hill Climbing (PHC) learners), and model the behavior of players in the social learning framework as a hybrid dynamical system. By analyzing the dynamical system, we obtain some conditions about convergence or non-convergence. We experimentally verify the predictive power of our model using a number of representative games. Experimental results confirm the theoretical analysis. Conclusion Under multiagent social learning framework, we modeled the behavior of agent in biologic environment, and theoretically analyzed the dynamics of the model. We present some sufficient conditions about convergence or non-convergence and prove them theoretically. It can be used to predict the convergence of the system.