title: Timescales of inference in visual adaptation.
abstract: Adaptation is a hallmark of sensory function. Adapting optimally requires matching the dynamics of adaptation to those of changes in the stimulus distribution. Here we show that the dynamics of adaptation in the responses of mouse retinal ganglion cells depend on stimulus history. We hypothesized that the accumulation of evidence for a change in the stimulus distribution controls the dynamics of adaptation, and developed a model for adaptation as an ongoing inference problem. Guided by predictions of this model, we found that the dynamics of adaptation depend on the discriminability of the change in stimulus distribution and that the retina exploits information contained in properties of the stimulus beyond the mean and variance to adapt more quickly when possible.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wark
authors.forename: Adrienne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fairhall
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rieke
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D049449:Luminescence; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors