A simple coding procedure enhances a neuron's information capacity.
The contrast-response function of a class of first order interneurons in the fly's compound eye approximates to the cumulative probability distribution of contrast levels in natural scenes. Elementary information theory shows that this matching enables the neurons to encode contrast fluctuations most efficiently.
D000818:Animals; D006793:Houseflies; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology*; D007700:Kinetics; D008027:Light; D009799:Ocular Physiological Phenomena; D014785:Vision, Ocular