---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '22326'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  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.
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."
article_number: '038401'
article_processing_charge: Yes (via OA deal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Chen Y
  full_name: Zhang, Chen Y
  id: 81b43fb8-c9d5-11ef-bf68-ade532a1f204
  last_name: Zhang
- first_name: Pablo
  full_name: Mateu Hoyos, Pablo
  id: 50b236c7-50c1-11ef-bb9a-a2375694f8b5
  last_name: Mateu Hoyos
- first_name: David
  full_name: Brückner, David
  id: e1e86031-6537-11eb-953a-f7ab92be508d
  last_name: Brückner
  orcid: 0000-0001-7205-2975
- first_name: Gašper
  full_name: Tkačik, Gašper
  id: 3D494DCA-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Tkačik
  orcid: 0000-0002-6699-1455
citation:
  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>
  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>
  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.
  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>.
  short: C.Y. Zhang, P. Mateu Hoyos, D. Brückner, G. Tkačik, Physical Review Letters
    137 (2026).
corr_author: '1'
das_tickbox: '1'
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."
date_created: 2026-07-14T05:38:28Z
date_published: 2026-07-15T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-07-16T09:58:04Z
day: '15'
ddc:
- '530'
department:
- _id: GaTk
- _id: EdHa
- _id: GradSch
doi: 10.1103/mbjk-v4ym
file:
- access_level: open_access
  checksum: 28861d31d0f6cf541aaca04faaed1767
  content_type: application/pdf
  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2026-07-16T09:54:55Z
  date_updated: 2026-07-16T09:54:55Z
  file_id: '22352'
  file_name: 2026_PhysicalReviewLetters_Zhang.pdf
  file_size: 2550345
  relation: main_file
  success: 1
file_date_updated: 2026-07-16T09:54:55Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '       137'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
month: '07'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
project:
- _id: 7bfe6a29-9f16-11ee-852c-c0da5e2045d9
  grant_number: '101118866'
  name: 'Transcription in 4D: the dynamic interplay between chromatin architecture
    and gene expression in developing pseudo-embryos'
publication: Physical Review Letters
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - ' 1079-7114'
  issn:
  - 0031-9007
publication_status: published
publisher: American Physical Society
quality_controlled: '1'
researchdata_availability: no
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
supplementarymaterial: no
title: Nonlocal decoding of positional and correlational information during development
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 137
year: '2026'
...