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PLoS Computational Biology Issue Image | Vol. 14(11) November 2018

Moth antennal neurons adjust their encoding optimally with respect to pheromone fluctuations

Sensory neural systems of living organisms encode the representation of their environment with remarkable efficiency. This is manifested, e.g., in the way how male moths perform long-distance searches of their females by tracking the pheromone plumes. In the study "Moth olfactory receptor neurons adjust their encoding efficiency to temporal statistics of pheromone fluctuations" Levakova et al. analyzed responses of pheromone-specific antennal neurons to naturalistic stimulation. It was shown that the coding accuracy and the stimulus distribution are in the optimal relationship as predicted by both information theory and statistical estimation theory.

Image Credit: Marie Levakova

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Moth antennal neurons adjust their encoding optimally with respect to pheromone fluctuations

Sensory neural systems of living organisms encode the representation of their environment with remarkable efficiency. This is manifested, e.g., in the way how male moths perform long-distance searches of their females by tracking the pheromone plumes. In the study "Moth olfactory receptor neurons adjust their encoding efficiency to temporal statistics of pheromone fluctuations" Levakova et al. analyzed responses of pheromone-specific antennal neurons to naturalistic stimulation. It was shown that the coding accuracy and the stimulus distribution are in the optimal relationship as predicted by both information theory and statistical estimation theory.

Image Credit: Marie Levakova

https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pcbi.v14.i11.g001