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Ignoring correlated activity causes a failure of retinal population codes

Author

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  • Kiersten Ruda

    (Duke University School of Medicine)

  • Joel Zylberberg

    (York University)

  • Greg D. Field

    (Duke University School of Medicine)

Abstract

From starlight to sunlight, adaptation alters retinal output, changing both the signal and noise among populations of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Here we determine how these light level-dependent changes impact decoding of retinal output, testing the importance of accounting for RGC noise correlations to optimally read out retinal activity. We find that at moonlight conditions, correlated noise is greater and assuming independent noise severely diminishes decoding performance. In fact, assuming independence among a local population of RGCs produces worse decoding than using a single RGC, demonstrating a failure of population codes when correlated noise is substantial and ignored. We generalize these results with a simple model to determine what conditions dictate this failure of population processing. This work elucidates the circumstances in which accounting for noise correlations is necessary to take advantage of population-level codes and shows that sensory adaptation can strongly impact decoding requirements on downstream brain areas.

Suggested Citation

  • Kiersten Ruda & Joel Zylberberg & Greg D. Field, 2020. "Ignoring correlated activity causes a failure of retinal population codes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-18436-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18436-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Saad Idrees & Michael B. Manookin & Fred Rieke & Greg D. Field & Joel Zylberberg, 2024. "Biophysical neural adaptation mechanisms enable artificial neural networks to capture dynamic retinal computation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Eric G. Wu & Nora Brackbill & Colleen Rhoades & Alexandra Kling & Alex R. Gogliettino & Nishal P. Shah & Alexander Sher & Alan M. Litke & Eero P. Simoncelli & E. J. Chichilnisky, 2024. "Fixational eye movements enhance the precision of visual information transmitted by the primate retina," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.

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