Adaptive Optimization of Visual Sensitivity

Abstract

Sensory systems adapt to environmental change. It has been
argued that adaptation should have the effect of optimizing sensitivity
to the new environment. Here we consider a framework in which this
premise is made concrete using an economic normative theory of visual
motion perception. In this framework, visual systems adapt to the environment
by reallocating their limited neural resources. The allocation is
optimal when uncertainties about different aspects of stimulation are balanced.
This theory makes predictions about visual sensitivity as a function
of environmental statistics. Adaptive optimization of the visual system
should be manifested as a change in sensitivity for an observer and for
the underlying motion-sensitive neurons. We review evidence supporting
these predictions and examine effects of adaptation on the neuronal representation
of visual motion.