[{"user_id":"2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","scopus_import":"1","author":[{"first_name":"Chen Y","id":"81b43fb8-c9d5-11ef-bf68-ade532a1f204","full_name":"Zhang, Chen Y","last_name":"Zhang"},{"first_name":"Pablo","id":"50b236c7-50c1-11ef-bb9a-a2375694f8b5","full_name":"Mateu Hoyos, Pablo","last_name":"Mateu Hoyos"},{"first_name":"David","orcid":"0000-0001-7205-2975","id":"e1e86031-6537-11eb-953a-f7ab92be508d","last_name":"Brückner","full_name":"Brückner, David"},{"first_name":"Gašper","id":"3D494DCA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87","orcid":"0000-0002-6699-1455","full_name":"Tkačik, Gašper","last_name":"Tkačik"}],"abstract":[{"text":"In many developmental systems, cells differentiate into a tissue by reading out morphogen concentration fields, a process fundamentally limited by noise. How much can the precision of this process be improved by nonlocal information, e.g., via cell-cell communication? Using a Bayes-optimal framework, we show that positional inference depends crucially on morphogen spatial correlations and on the \"structural prior\" that encodes the geometry of the cellular lattice performing the readout, thereby determining what a cell can reliably assume about the position of its neighbors when interpreting nonlocal morphogen signals. We derive upper bounds on positional information gain due to nonlocal readout and identify signal processing algorithms that approximate optimal positional inference, as well as simple chemical reaction schemes which implement such algorithms. Our theory suggests that correlational information can be exploited to significantly enhance developmental precision.","lang":"eng"}],"dataavailabilitystatement":"Code to evaluate PI, to run algorithmic implementations of ALP and RLP decoding, and to\r\nperform simulations is publicly available at https://github.com/alex-chenyi-zhang/nonlocdec_pici.","citation":{"chicago":"Zhang, Chen Y, Pablo Mateu Hoyos, David Brückner, and Gašper Tkačik. “Nonlocal Decoding of Positional and Correlational Information during Development.” <i>Physical Review Letters</i>. American Physical Society, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/mbjk-v4ym\">https://doi.org/10.1103/mbjk-v4ym</a>.","ieee":"C. Y. Zhang, P. Mateu Hoyos, D. Brückner, and G. Tkačik, “Nonlocal decoding of positional and correlational information during development,” <i>Physical Review Letters</i>, vol. 137. American Physical Society, 2026.","ista":"Zhang CY, Mateu Hoyos P, Brückner D, Tkačik G. 2026. Nonlocal decoding of positional and correlational information during development. Physical Review Letters. 137, 038401.","apa":"Zhang, C. Y., Mateu Hoyos, P., Brückner, D., &#38; Tkačik, G. (2026). Nonlocal decoding of positional and correlational information during development. <i>Physical Review Letters</i>. American Physical Society. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/mbjk-v4ym\">https://doi.org/10.1103/mbjk-v4ym</a>","short":"C.Y. Zhang, P. Mateu Hoyos, D. Brückner, G. Tkačik, Physical Review Letters 137 (2026).","ama":"Zhang CY, Mateu Hoyos P, Brückner D, Tkačik G. Nonlocal decoding of positional and correlational information during development. <i>Physical Review Letters</i>. 2026;137. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/mbjk-v4ym\">10.1103/mbjk-v4ym</a>","mla":"Zhang, Chen Y., et al. “Nonlocal Decoding of Positional and Correlational Information during Development.” <i>Physical Review Letters</i>, vol. 137, 038401, American Physical Society, 2026, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1103/mbjk-v4ym\">10.1103/mbjk-v4ym</a>."},"publication_status":"published","article_processing_charge":"Yes (via OA deal)","tmp":{"image":"/images/cc_by.png","short":"CC BY (4.0)","name":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"},"date_created":"2026-07-14T05:38:28Z","intvolume":"       137","title":"Nonlocal decoding of positional and correlational information during development","file_date_updated":"2026-07-16T09:54:55Z","quality_controlled":"1","publication":"Physical Review Letters","corr_author":"1","day":"15","date_published":"2026-07-15T00:00:00Z","volume":137,"month":"07","year":"2026","doi":"10.1103/mbjk-v4ym","has_accepted_license":"1","publisher":"American Physical Society","supplementarymaterial":"no","OA_type":"hybrid","acknowledgement":"This work was supported in part\r\nby European Research Council No. ERC-2023-SyG\r\n“DynaTrans” Grant No. 101118866 (G. T.). We thank\r\nPieter Rein ten Wolde and Vahe Galstyan for stimulating\r\ndiscussions.","type":"journal_article","oa_version":"Published Version","das_tickbox":"1","project":[{"grant_number":"101118866","name":"Transcription in 4D: the dynamic interplay between chromatin architecture and gene expression in developing pseudo-embryos","_id":"7bfe6a29-9f16-11ee-852c-c0da5e2045d9"}],"researchdata_availability":"no","department":[{"_id":"GaTk"},{"_id":"EdHa"},{"_id":"GradSch"}],"file":[{"checksum":"28861d31d0f6cf541aaca04faaed1767","relation":"main_file","date_updated":"2026-07-16T09:54:55Z","creator":"dernst","content_type":"application/pdf","file_id":"22352","date_created":"2026-07-16T09:54:55Z","file_size":2550345,"access_level":"open_access","file_name":"2026_PhysicalReviewLetters_Zhang.pdf","success":1}],"OA_place":"publisher","article_number":"038401","publication_identifier":{"issn":["0031-9007"],"eissn":[" 1079-7114"]},"ddc":["530"],"PlanS_conform":"1","status":"public","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"date_updated":"2026-07-16T09:58:04Z","_id":"22326","oa":1,"article_type":"original"}]