Adaptation optimizes sensory encoding for future stimuli.

ABSTRACT: Sensory neurons continually adapt their response characteristics according to recent stimulus history. However, it is unclear how such a reactive process can benefit the organism. Here, we test the hypothesis that adaptation actually acts proactively in the sense that it optimally adjusts sensory encoding for future stimuli. We first quantified human subjects' ability to discriminate visual orientation under different adaptation conditions. Using an information theoretic analysis, we found that adaptation leads to a reallocation of coding resources such that encoding accuracy peaks at the mean orientation of the adaptor while total coding capacity remains constant. We then asked whether this characteristic change in encoding accuracy is predicted by the temporal statistics of natural visua

SUBMITTER: Mao J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11771873 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature