Abstract
The synchronized oscillation plays an important role in physiological functions in biological systems. Synchronized motion of motile cilia realizes unidirectional transport of fluid in vertebrate body. The collective behavior is believed to arise by hydrodynamic interactions via the extracellular fluid, but how this synchrony appears and develops during the embryogenesis are unknown. We analyze synchrony dynamics of nodal cilia, which determine the left-right axis, by quantifying the fluid flow and cilia rotation. We construct a model based on coupled phase oscillators explaining the offset of the synchronization of cilia after the left-right axis determination. This suggests that the synchronization of nodal cilia is governed by global and local hydrodynamic coupling.
