{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,24]],"date-time":"2026-08-24T14:38:05Z","timestamp":1787582285620,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"The Royal Society","issue":"240","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782864000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001665","name":"Agence Nationale de la Recherche","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ANR-17-CE02-0019-01-SMARTCELL"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ANR-17-CE02-0019-01-SMARTCELL"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001665","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004794","name":"Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004794","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>The slime mould\u00a0Physarum polycephalum\u00a0has emerged as a model system for self-organization and coordination of contractile activity at large spatial scales. This organization results from cytoplasmic flows generated by propagating contractile waves of the actomyosin cortex. In addition to these relatively fast travelling waves, slower modulations of contractile activity occur on timescales much longer than the primary oscillation period, yet remain poorly characterized. Here, we investigate these slow modulations by confining organisms inside annular geometries, and quantifying contractile activity across the organism over long recordings. We reveal correlations between contractile wave direction, amplitude modulation and slow variations of the mean vein diameter. Using an automatic Fourier-based classification, we identify three families of slow modulation modes: fundamental rotating modes, higher order modes and standing modes. Fundamental rotating modes dominate and exhibit periods compatible with linear scaling with system size. Remarkably, measured periods cluster near integer multiples of an intrinsic modulation timescale obtained independently from statistical analysis. These observations are consistent with a transport-mediated scenario in which a slowly advected regulator biases local excitability and mechanical properties, coordinating activity across the organism on long timescales.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1098\/rsif.2025.0971","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T00:14:52Z","timestamp":1782864892000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Slow modulation of the contraction patterns in\u00a0\n                    <i>Physarum polycephalum<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1098","volume":"23","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6761-1162","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Raphael","family":"Saiseau","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physics, University of Konstanz 1 , Konstanz, Germany"},{"name":"Laboratoire Mati\u00e8re et Syst\u00e8mes Complexes (MSC), UMR 7057 CNRS, Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9 2 , Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valentin","family":"Busson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire Mati\u00e8re et Syst\u00e8mes Complexes (MSC), UMR 7057 CNRS, Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9 2 , Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6619-1466","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marc","family":"Durand","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratoire Mati\u00e8re et Syst\u00e8mes Complexes (MSC), UMR 7057 CNRS, Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9 2 , Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"175","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026082409570917300_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"153","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01276690","article-title":"Correlation of contractile activity and of streaming direction between branching veins of\u00a0Physarum polycephalum\u00a0plasmodium","volume":"97","author":"Grebecki","year":"1978","journal-title":"Protoplasma"},{"key":"2026082409570917300_bib2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1007\/BF01276293","article-title":"Dynamics of the ectoplasmic walls during pulsation of plasmodial veins of\u00a0Physarum polycephalum","volume":"97","author":"Gr\u0119becki","year":"1978","journal-title":"Protoplasma"},{"key":"2026082409570917300_bib3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"016001","DOI":"10.1088\/1478-3975\/ad0a9a","article-title":"Calcium regulates cortex contraction in\u00a0Physarum polycephalum","volume":"21","author":"Kscheschinski","year":"2023","journal-title":"Phys. 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