Computation, mechanisms, and optimal coding in retinal adaptation
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Sensory systems face the problem of encoding sensory signals that vary greatly, exceeding the operating range of individual neurons. As a consequence, neural systems dynamically adapt to the current sensory environment by changing their response properties. While this adaptive coding and its underlying mechanisms have been studied over decades, a lack of quantitative, biophysical models limits our understanding both of the mechanisms of adaptation and the principles by which the nervous system has been optimized through evolution. Synaptic transmission and spiking are two key mechanisms thought to contribute to adaptation in the retina and elsewhere in the brain. To understand how the computation of contrast adaptation arises, we developed an accurate dynamical, multi-stage model that included bipolar cell synaptic transmission and ganglion cell spiking. Using this model, we show that, paradoxically, spiking alone is anti-adaptive, but that synapses and spiking act synergistically to generate adaptation. We further analyzed the parameters of the model to understand how the retina balances the conflicting requirements of information transmission and energy conservation in a rapidly changing environment. We show that synergistic adaptation from synapses and spiking creates an optimal balance of information transmission and energy eciency in a dynamically changing environment. Our findings reveal synapses as the essential source of adaptation, with spiking enhancing that adaptation, and the two mechanisms together acting to maximize information transmission while conserving energy.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Suh, Bongsoo |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Electrical Engineering. |
| Primary advisor | Baccus, Stephen A |
| Thesis advisor | Baccus, Stephen A |
| Thesis advisor | Ganguli, Surya, 1977- |
| Thesis advisor | Weissman, Tsachy |
| Advisor | Ganguli, Surya, 1977- |
| Advisor | Weissman, Tsachy |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Bongsoo Suh. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2016. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2016 by Bongsoo Suh
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...