Potential of Multifractal Analysis for Characterizing Movements of Biological Objects

• Published in: Biology bulletin reviews 2023, Vol.13 (5), p.495-505
• Main Authors: Zaitseva, N. V., Zemlyanova, M. A., Ignatova, A. M., Naimark, O. B., Stepankov, M. S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Calcium oxide; Cell Biology; Ecology; Inhalation; Laboratory animals; Life Sciences; Locomotion; Time series; Zoology
• ISSN: 2079-0864; 2079-0872
• DOI: 10.1134/S2079086423050134

The object of study is data (time series) on movements of laboratory animals (rats in the “open field” maze), which reflect the dynamics of changes in speed and position of objects in space (coordinates) at a certain point in time. To interpret the time series, the methods of fractal analysis and the determination of the multifractal spectrum were used. The experiment setup was intended to compare the locomotion activity of rats in the presence of an external factor with a proven effect on behavior and, accordingly, in the absence of this factor. As an external impact factor, inhalation exposure to nanodispersed calcium oxide was chosen. It was found that the behavior of animals subjected to repeated exposure to nanosized calcium oxide differs from control indicators, having a more confused trajectory, less activity, and a predominance of stops over movement. In the experimental group, according to the Hurst community indicators, the trajectory is 1.3 times more confused than in the control group; according to the analysis of the anomalies of multifractal spectra, the activity is reduced by 1.8 times, and the number of stops is higher than the actions associated with movement by 1.7 times. The results of the study suggest that the method of multifractal analysis allows obtaining the behavioral profile of a biological object based on the observations of its movement in space over a certain period of time.