Neurobiology of polarization vision.
Insects can perceive the pattern of polarized light (e-vector pattern) in the sky and use it as a compass. To accomplish this navigational task they employ a specialized part of the retina in which the polarization analysers (ultraviolet receptors) are arranged in a way that mimics, by and large, the distribution of e-vector directions in the sky. By sweeping this 'matched polarization filter's across the sky, the insect translates the complex spatial information provided by the celestial e-vector patterns into rather simple temporal modulations of summed receptor outputs. This mechanism provides a striking example of peripheral coding by matched filtering in sensory systems.
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D000818:Animals; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology*; D008027:Light; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D012160:Retina / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*