Contrast-response functions, Fisher information, and contrast decoding performance

Connecting psychophysical performance to neuronal response properties II: Contrast decoding and detection.

The purpose of this article is to provide mathematical insights into the results of some Monte Carlo simulations published by Tolhurst and colleagues (Clatworthy, Chirimuuta, Lauritzen, & Tolhurst, 2003; Chirimuuta & Tolhurst, 2005a). In these simulations, the contrast of a visual stimulus was encoded by a model spiking neuron or a set of such neurons. The mean spike count of each neuron was gi...

Exploring the roles of saturating and supersaturating contrast-response functions in conjunction detection and contrast coding.

J. W. Peirce (2007, p. 1) has proposed that saturating contrast-response functions in V1 and V2 may form "a critical part of the selective detection of compound stimuli over their components" and that supersaturating (non-monotonic) functions allow even greater conjunction selectivity. Here, we argue that saturating and supersaturating contrast-response functions cannot be exploited by conjunct...

Human contrast-detail performance with declining contrast.

PURPOSE How do display settings and ambient lighting affect contrast detection thresholds for human observers? Can recalibrating a display for high ambient lighting improve object detection? METHODS Contrast∕detail (CD) threshold detection performance was measured for observers using four color displays with varying overall contrast (e.g., differing maximum luminance and ambient lighting cond...

Contrast Functions for ICA and Sources Separation

Relations between Renyi Distance and Fisher Information

In this paper, we first show that Renyi distance between any member of a parametric family and its perturbations, is proportional to its Fisher information. We, then, prove some relations between the Renyi distance of two distributions and the Fisher information of their exponentially twisted family of densities. Finally, we show that the partial ordering of families induced by Renyi dis...