dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaSynergy from Silence in a Combinatorial Neural Code
| Authors | Elad Schneidman, Jason L. Puchalla, Ronen Segev, Robert A. Harris, William Bialek, Michael J. Berry II |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0607017 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0607017 |
Abstract
The manner in which groups of neurons represent events in the external world is fundamental to neuroscience. Here, we analyze the population code of the retina during naturalistic stimulation and show that the information conveyed by specific multi-neuronal firing patterns can be very different from the sum of the pattern's parts. Synchronous spikes convey more information than either of the participating cells, but almost always less than their sum, making them redundant coding symbols. Surprisingly, patterns of spiking and silence are mostly synergistic - carrying information that is accessible only by observing the whole pattern of activity, rather than its components, and signifying unique features in the stimulus. These results demonstrate that the retina uses a combinatorial code and that the brain can benefit significantly from recognizing multi-neuronal firing patterns.
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"date_created": "2026-03-02T18:01:35.330000Z",
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"abstract": "The manner in which groups of neurons represent events in the external world\nis fundamental to neuroscience. Here, we analyze the population code of the\nretina during naturalistic stimulation and show that the information conveyed\nby specific multi-neuronal firing patterns can be very different from the sum\nof the pattern\u0027s parts. Synchronous spikes convey more information than either\nof the participating cells, but almost always less than their sum, making them\nredundant coding symbols. Surprisingly, patterns of spiking and silence are\nmostly synergistic - carrying information that is accessible only by observing\nthe whole pattern of activity, rather than its components, and signifying\nunique features in the stimulus. These results demonstrate that the retina uses\na combinatorial code and that the brain can benefit significantly from\nrecognizing multi-neuronal firing patterns.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0607017",
"authors": [
"Elad Schneidman",
"Jason L. Puchalla",
"Ronen Segev",
"Robert A. Harris",
"William Bialek",
"Michael J. Berry II"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.NC",
"physics.bio-ph",
"q-bio.MN"
],
"title": "Synergy from Silence in a Combinatorial Neural Code",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0607017"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
"source": {
"execution_id": "9f82c234-53b8-4016-98d8-4b0f93a59f9d",
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"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
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