Estimation of adaptive encoding in the visual pathway

A recursive estimation approach is presented in which functional relationships between stimulus and neuronal response can be continuously tracked in the visual pathway. In the natural setting, visual neurons are under constant control from adaptation mechanisms that are striving to maintain sensitivity in response to drastic changes in the luminance distribution as the eyes saccade across complex scenes. This continual control affects not only the sensitivity, but also the basic strategy by which information about the outside world is being encoded, which is clearly reflected in the spatiotemporal receptive field properties. The recursive approach presented demonstrates that the effects or these adaptation mechanisms on the underlying encoding process can be continually tracked in experimentally obtained neuronal responses. Characterizing the constantly evolving dynamics of the encoding mechanisms might be the key to understanding visual processing of natural scenes.