Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Ecological Niches02:02

Ecological Niches

26.7K
All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors—including food resources, climate, and terrain—that define the position of a given organism are collectively referred to as the organism’s ecological niche.
26.7K
What is Variation?01:14

What is Variation?

18.6K
Apart from the measures of central tendency, distribution, outliers, and the changing characteristics of data with time, an important characteristic of any data set is its variation or spread. In some data sets, the data values are concentrated closely near the mean; in others, the data values are more widely spread out from the mean.
The range, standard deviation, standard error, and variance are the different measures of variation.
Range: The range is the difference between its maximum and...
18.6K
Variation01:19

Variation

8.1K
An important characteristic of any set of data is the variation in the data. In some data sets, the data values are concentrated closely near the mean; in other data sets, the data values are more widely spread out from the mean. The most common measure of variation, or spread, is the standard deviation, which is the square root of variance.
When independent and dependent variables are plotted on a scatter plot, the slope of a line is a value that describes the rate of change between the two...
8.1K
Stem Cell Niche01:26

Stem Cell Niche

6.4K
The stem cell niche is the dynamic microenvironment where stem cells reside. Inside these niches, the cells may remain undifferentiated, undergo high self-renewal, or become lineage-specific progenitors. Stem cells coexist with other niche cells, such as stromal cells. They also interact closely with the ECM. Cell-cell and cell-matrix communication occur via adhesion molecules or soluble factors that signal the stem cells and determine their fate. Stromal cells also provide survival signals to...
6.4K
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation02:53

Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation

6.9K
Because the DNA segments are cut and reorganized in a direction-specific manner, site-specific recombination has emerged as an efficient genetic engineering technique. Flippase and Cyclization recombinases or Flp and Cre, respectively, are two members of the tyrosine recombinase family derived from bacteriophages, that are used to mediate site-specific DNA insertions, deletions, and targeted expression of proteins in mammalian cell lines.
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...
6.9K
Variation of Atmospheric Pressure01:18

Variation of Atmospheric Pressure

4.2K
Change in atmospheric pressure with height is particularly interesting. The decrease in atmospheric pressure with increasing altitude is due to the decreasing gravitational force per unit area as we move away from the surface of the earth.
Assuming the air temperature is constant at a given altitude and that the ideal gas law of thermodynamics describes the atmosphere to a good approximation, one can find the variation of atmospheric pressure with height.
Let p(y) be the atmospheric pressure at...
4.2K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Setting digital psychiatry in motion: towards dynamic digital markers for digital phenotyping.

NPP - digital psychiatry and neuroscience·2026
Same author

Five Fristonian Formulae.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2025
Same author

Exploring the clinical utility of rhythmic digital markers for schizophrenia.

PLOS digital health·2025
Same author

Predictive processing: Shedding light on the computational processes underlying motivated behavior.

The Behavioral and brain sciences·2025
Same author

The paradox of the self-studying brain.

Physics of life reviews·2025
Same author

Stimulus-repetition effects on macaque V1 and V4 microcircuits explain gamma-synchronization increase.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2024
Same journal

RNA-ligand complexes and the attenuation of neutral confinement in the evolution of RNA secondary structures.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2026
Same journal

Individual detachment-reintegration events in homing pigeon flocks and the dominance of directional adjustment in their kinematic features.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2026
Same journal

Thermal stress disrupts symbiotic fluid dynamics in bobtail squid.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2026
Same journal

Distinct geometrical landscapes distinguish between modes of tristability in gene regulatory networks.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2026
Same journal

Slow modulation of the contraction patterns in Physarum polycephalum.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2026
Same journal

Moo-ving mountains: grazing agents drive terracette formation on steep hillslopes.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Author Spotlight: Developing Synthetic Microbial Communities for Generating Second-Generation Biofertilizers
04:29

Author Spotlight: Developing Synthetic Microbial Communities for Generating Second-Generation Biofertilizers

Published on: May 24, 2024

1.6K

A variational approach to niche construction.

Axel Constant1,2,3, Maxwell J D Ramstead4,5, Samuel P L Veissière5,6

  • 1Laboratory of Experimental Psychology, Brain and Cognition Unit, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium axel.constant.pruvost@gmail.com.

Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
|April 13, 2018
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Organisms actively shape their evolution by modifying environments, a process called niche construction. This study proposes a variational approach to understand niche construction as a key evolutionary mechanism.

Keywords:
active inferenceecological inheritanceevolutionary biologyniche construction theorysituated learningvariational free-energy principle

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Standardizing Limbal Niche Cell (LNC) Isolation and Characterization to Support Widespread LNC Research
10:11

Author Spotlight: Standardizing Limbal Niche Cell (LNC) Isolation and Characterization to Support Widespread LNC Research

Published on: October 27, 2023

1.5K
Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility
13:48

Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility

Published on: August 8, 2014

13.6K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Author Spotlight: Developing Synthetic Microbial Communities for Generating Second-Generation Biofertilizers
04:29

Author Spotlight: Developing Synthetic Microbial Communities for Generating Second-Generation Biofertilizers

Published on: May 24, 2024

1.6K
Author Spotlight: Standardizing Limbal Niche Cell (LNC) Isolation and Characterization to Support Widespread LNC Research
10:11

Author Spotlight: Standardizing Limbal Niche Cell (LNC) Isolation and Characterization to Support Widespread LNC Research

Published on: October 27, 2023

1.5K
Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility
13:48

Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility

Published on: August 8, 2014

13.6K

Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Theoretical biology
  • Systems biology

Background:

  • Niche construction is debated as a core evolutionary process.
  • Organisms modify environments, influencing their evolutionary paths.
  • Variational free-energy principle offers a framework for living systems.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To present niche construction as a variational process.
  • To support niche construction as a genuine evolutionary force.
  • To integrate niche construction with current scientific perspectives.

Main Methods:

  • Applying variational principles to niche construction.
  • Developing theoretical arguments for niche construction.
  • Synthesizing niche construction with existing evolutionary theories.

Main Results:

  • Niche construction can be effectively modeled using a variational approach.
  • The variational framework strengthens arguments for niche construction's evolutionary significance.
  • This approach bridges niche construction with broader scientific concepts.

Conclusions:

  • Niche construction is a significant evolutionary process, explainable via variational principles.
  • The variational approach provides a unified perspective on niche construction.
  • This framework has implications for diverse scientific fields.