Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

On the information received by sensory receptors

  • Published:
Bulletin of Mathematical Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It is hypothesized that a sensory neuron, a neuron issuing from a sensory receptor, encodes the rate at which entropy or uncertainty is removed at the receptor level. This hypothesis is tested for the case of the entropy associated with the magnitude of a signal (stimulus) applied at the sensory receptor. A simple mathematical model of the process is presented and a number of well-known stimulus-response relationships are seen to emerge. For example, the adaptation of a receptor may be seen to occur as a consequence of reduced uncertainty regarding stimulus intensity. A general equation relating stimulus and response is developed, and this equation will simplify, depending upon the ratio of signal power to noise power, to either a logarithmic or a power law.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature

  • Hartline, H. K. and C. H. Graham. 1932. “Nerve Impulses from Single Receptors in the Eye.”J. Cell. Comp. Physiol.,1, 277–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moskowitz, H. A., B. Scharf and J. C. Stevens. 1974.Sensation and Measurement, Dordrecht, Holland, D. Reidel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagel, E. and J. R. Newman. 1958.Gödel’s Proof, pp. 29. New York University Press.

  • Norwich, K. H. 1975. “Information, Memory and Perception.”Institute of Biomedical Engineering Report, 17.

  • Norwich, K. H. 1976. “An Hypothesis on the Processing of Information by Sensory Receptors.”Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Medical and Biological Engineering 610–611.

  • Poggio, G. F. and F. H. Baker. 1974. InMedical Physiology, Ed. V. B. Mountcastle, pp. 518. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schrödinger, E. 1951.Science and Humanism, Physics in Our Time. Cambridge.

  • Shannon, C. E. 1948. “A Mathematical Theory of Communication.”Bell Syst. Tech. J.,27, 379–423.

    MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, R. B. 1967. “The Information Capacity of Nerve Cells using a Frequency Code.”Biophys. J.,7, 797–826.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stevens, S. S. 1961. InSensory Communication, Ed. W. A. Rosenblith. M.I.T. Press, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Werner G. and V. B. Mountcastle. 1965. “Neural Activity in Mechanoreceptive Cutaneous Afferents: Stimulus-Response Relations, Weber Functions and Information Transmission.”J. Neurophysiol.,28, 359–397.

    Google Scholar 

  • —. 1968. InThe Skin Senses, Ed. D. R. Kenshalo, pp. 126. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, M5S 1A4, Toronto, Canada

    Kenneth H. Norwich

Authors
  1. Kenneth H. Norwich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Norwich, K.H. On the information received by sensory receptors. Bltn Mathcal Biology 39, 453–461 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02462923

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02462923

Keywords

Search

Navigation