Flow modes provide a quantification of Physarum network peristalsis

Physarum polycephalum is a foraging, network-forming organism known for its ability to make complex decisions and maintain memory of past stimuli without use of a complex nervous system. Self-organized peristaltic flows within the network transport nutrients throughout the organism and initiate locomotion and morphological changes. A key step in understanding P. polycephalum's ability to change behavior is therefore forming descriptors of this peristaltic flow. Here, we develop a dynamic network-based method for describing organism-wide patterns of tube contractions from videos of P. polycephalum. Our tool provides robust readouts of the diversity of global modes of tube contraction that could occur within a given network, based on its geometry and topology, and sensitively identifies when global peristaltic patterns emerge and dissipate.