Signal stabilization and noise suppression in neural systems

Summary Neural activity is viewed as a stochastic point process, in which information resides in the modulation of a background of spontaneous activity. Characteristic features of the spatial and temporal mapping of sensory signals are discussed. One of the puzzling aspects of neural functioning is the integrity of the signal in its passage toward higher brain centers, in view of the fundamentally noisy response of the individual neuron. It is shown, that a process, we call image stabilization, is a direct consequence of the particular mapping function exemplified by lateral inhibition and adaptation.The research reported in this paper was sponsored by the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories, Aerospace Medical Division, Air Force Systems Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, under contract No. F 33615-67-C-1413 and the Office of Naval Research, contract No. ONR N0001467-A-0378-0001, with Syracuse University Research Institute. Further reproduction is authorized to satisfy needs of the U.S. Government.