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Rod outer segments are designed for optimum photon detection
1Biophysics Department, School of Medicine, SUNY/Buffalo, NY 14214.
Biological Cybernetics
|January 11, 1992
Abstract:
The proposal that rod outer segment length is optimal with respect to photon absorption and noise control is extended and tested in a number of species. We find good agreement with our optimality criterion in duplex retinae where rods act as detectors of one or a few photons, but not in all rod retinae nor in those which are exposed to significant photic environmental noise.