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Informational and neural adaptation curves are asynchronous.

¹Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

Perception & Psychophysics

|August 1, 1991

Summary

Perception adapts faster than neural processes, with both auditory and visual systems rapidly acquiring intensity information. This suggests convergent neural circuits enhance information processing speed.

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Area of Science:

Perceptual psychology
Neuroscience
Information theory

Background:

Norwich's entropy theory predicts synchronous informational and neural adaptation curves.
Sensory neurons exhibit neural adaptation curves (firing rate vs. stimulus duration).
Suprathreshold prothetic stimuli involve "informational adaptation curves" (stimulus equivocation vs. duration).

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate informational adaptation curves for auditory and visual stimuli.
To compare the timing of informational adaptation with neural adaptation.
To test predictions from entropy theory of perception.

Main Methods:

Five experiments measuring informational adaptation curves.
Subjects performed absolute identifications of sound and light intensities of varying durations.
Entropy theory equations fitted to peripheral sensory neuron data (spiral ganglion and retinal ganglion cells).

Main Results:

Information acquisition for brief stimuli (1-5 msec) was rapid, indicated by low stimulus equivocation.
Informational adaptation occurred more rapidly than neural adaptation, showing asynchronous processes.
Channel capacity (total information mediated) was similar for informational and neural adaptation (approx. 2 bits/stimulus for sound, 1.3-2.0 bits/stimulus for light).

Conclusions:

Informational adaptation in the whole organism is faster than neural adaptation in peripheral sensory neurons.
Asynchronous adaptation suggests mechanisms beyond simple neural adaptation are involved.
Convergent neural circuits may enhance organism-level information acquisition rate by pooling receptor inputs.

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