dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaPhysics of Psychophysics: it is critical to sense
| Authors | Mauro Copelli |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0611017 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0611017 |
| DOI | 10.1063/1.2709581 |
| Journal | AIP Conference Proceedings -- February 8, 2007 -- Volume 887, pp. 13-20, "Cooperative Behavior in Neural Systems: Ninth Granada Lectures", edited by J. Marro, P. L. Garrido and J. J. Torres |
Abstract
It has been known for about a century that psychophysical response curves (perception of a given physical stimulus vs. stimulus intensity) have a large dynamic range: many decades of stimulus intensity can be appropriately discriminated before saturation. This is in stark contrast with the response curves of sensory neurons, whose dynamic range is small, usually covering only about one decade. We claim that this paradox can be solved by means of a collective phenomenon. By coupling excitable elements with small dynamic range, the {\em collective} response function shows a much larger dynamic range, due to the amplification mediated by excitable waves. Moreover, the dynamic range is optimal at the phase transition where self-sustained activity becomes stable, providing a clear example of a biologically relevant quantity being optimized at criticality. We present a pedagogical account of these ideas, which are illustrated with a simple mean field model.
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"abstract": "It has been known for about a century that psychophysical response curves\n(perception of a given physical stimulus vs. stimulus intensity) have a large\ndynamic range: many decades of stimulus intensity can be appropriately\ndiscriminated before saturation. This is in stark contrast with the response\ncurves of sensory neurons, whose dynamic range is small, usually covering only\nabout one decade. We claim that this paradox can be solved by means of a\ncollective phenomenon. By coupling excitable elements with small dynamic range,\nthe {\\em collective} response function shows a much larger dynamic range, due\nto the amplification mediated by excitable waves. Moreover, the dynamic range\nis optimal at the phase transition where self-sustained activity becomes\nstable, providing a clear example of a biologically relevant quantity being\noptimized at criticality. We present a pedagogical account of these ideas,\nwhich are illustrated with a simple mean field model.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0611017",
"authors": [
"Mauro Copelli"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.NC",
"cond-mat.dis-nn",
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],
"doi": "10.1063/1.2709581",
"journal_ref": "AIP Conference Proceedings -- February 8, 2007 -- Volume 887, pp.\n 13-20, \"Cooperative Behavior in Neural Systems: Ninth Granada Lectures\",\n edited by J. Marro, P. L. Garrido and J. J. Torres",
"title": "Physics of Psychophysics: it is critical to sense",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0611017"
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