Signal compression in biological sensory systems: information theoretic performance limits

Mark D. McDonnell

doi:10.1117/12.759225

27 December 2007 Signal compression in biological sensory systems: information theoretic performance limits

Mark D. McDonnell

Proceedings Volume 6799, BioMEMS and Nanotechnology III; 679913 (2007) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.759225
Event: SPIE Microelectronics, MEMS, and Nanotechnology, 2007, Canberra, ACT, Australia

Abstract

The intensity of analog stimuli, such as the loudness of sounds, is converted by our biological sensory systems into short duration electrical pulses in nerve fibres. These pulses are known as action potentials. In many cases, the transduction process that converts stimulus intensity into an action-potential encoding introduces significant randomness that appears to reduce the quality of the encoding. Due to this inherent random noise, it is the average rate at which action potentials are produced, rather than the instantaneous rate, that encodes stimulus amplitude. In this paper the limits of performance of this transduction process are analyzed using an information theoretic perspective of neural rate coding.

Citation Download Citation

Mark D. McDonnell "Signal compression in biological sensory systems: information theoretic performance limits", Proc. SPIE 6799, BioMEMS and Nanotechnology III, 679913 (27 December 2007); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.759225

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