ArticleBiology letters2019
Contrast sensitivity and behavioural evidence for lateral inhibition in octopus.
Article in Biology letters, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Perpendicular neuromorphic channels facilitate lateral inhibition for tactile location.Nature communications · 2026Article
- The marine gastropod Conomurex luhuanus (Strombidae) has high-resolution spatial vision and eyes with complex retinas.The Journal of experimental biology · 2022Article
- Multiple Routes to Animal Consciousness: Constrained Multiple Realizability Rather Than Modest Identity Theory.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Spatial Contrast Sensitivity to Polarization and Luminance in Octopus.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Article
- Contrast sensitivity and behavioural evidence for lateral inhibition in octopus.Biology letters · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
Behavioural contrast sensitivity in Octopus tetricus was measured in the range of 0.05-12 cycles per degree (cpd) using a fixation reflex. We show that the contrast sensitivity reaches its maximum (between 1 and 4%) at 0.3 cpd, and decreases to approximately half of the maximum value at the lowest spatial frequency. Reduction of sensitivity at low spatial frequency is a signature of lateral inhibition in visual systems. In vertebrates and insects, lateral inhibition helps to overcome the bottleneck of encoding information into spikes. In octopus, photoreceptors generate spikes themselves and are directly connected to the brain through their axons. Therefore, the neural processing occurring in the octopus brain cannot help overcome the bottleneck of encoding information into spikes. We conclude that, in octopus, either the lateral inhibition occurs in the brain after information has been encoded into spikes, or photoreceptors inhibit each other. This is the first time behavioural contrast sensitivity has been measured in a cephalopod.
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