{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,11]],"date-time":"2026-07-11T10:31:23Z","timestamp":1783765883651,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,21]],"date-time":"2022-05-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1653091200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Entropy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Assessing where and how information is stored in biological networks (such as neuronal and genetic networks) is a central task both in neuroscience and in molecular genetics, but most available tools focus on the network\u2019s structure as opposed to its function. Here, we introduce a new information-theoretic tool\u2014information fragmentation analysis\u2014that, given full phenotypic data, allows us to localize information in complex networks, determine how fragmented (across multiple nodes of the network) the information is, and assess the level of encryption of that information. Using information fragmentation matrices we can also create information flow graphs that illustrate how information propagates through these networks. We illustrate the use of this tool by analyzing how artificial brains that evolved in silico solve particular tasks, and show how information fragmentation analysis provides deeper insights into how these brains process information and \u201cthink\u201d. The measures of information fragmentation and encryption that result from our methods also quantify complexity of information processing in these networks and how this processing complexity differs between primary exposure to sensory data (early in the lifetime) and later routine processing.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/e24050735","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,21]],"date-time":"2022-05-21T09:18:08Z","timestamp":1653124688000},"page":"735","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Information Fragmentation, Encryption and Information Flow in Complex Biological Networks"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9123-4317","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clifford","family":"Bohm","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Integrative Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA"},{"name":"BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4225-5362","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Douglas","family":"Kirkpatrick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA"},{"name":"Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Victoria","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA"},{"name":"Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2915-9504","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christoph","family":"Adami","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA"},{"name":"Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1751","DOI":"10.1038\/s41593-019-0510-4","article-title":"Advancing functional connectivity research from association to causation","volume":"22","author":"Reid","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nat. 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