Speaker
Oskar Schnaack
Description
The adaptive immune system in vertebrates mounts a specific response
against a multitude of distinct pathogens by generating highly diverse
immune (B- and T-cell) receptors. After battling with an infection, the
immune system keeps a memory of its effective immune receptors as a
token to act quicker in future encounters. Our goal is to understand the
statistical principles of such memory formation through modeling of the
immune response as a decision-making process [1]. We relate the
adaptation time of an antibody resembling B-cell receptor to a
temperature-like quantity that sets the limit on the decision-making
prior. Based on the concept of out-of-equilibrium decision-making [2]
we derive equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium memory strategies and
analyze their utility.
[1] Pedro A. Ortega and Daniel A. Braun. Thermodynamics as a theory
of decision-making with information-processing costs. Proceedings of
the Royal Society of London A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering
Sciences
[2] Jordi Grau-Moya et al. Non-equilibrium relations for bounded
rational decision-making in changing environments. Entropy
Primary author
Oskar Schnaack
