When few photons are available, such as on a moonless night, our vision is limited by the
probability of photon absorption in rod photoreceptors, and the reliable transmission of light …

Vision begins in the retina, where photoreceptors have the task of discriminating incoming
photons from intrinsic cellular noise. Vertebrates have evolved a duplex retina, in which rod …

Purpose: Rod photoreceptors in the retina are optimized to detect dim light stimuli, even
single photons. However, the ability of rods to reliably relay quantal events to the second …

Retinal Processing: Smaller Babies Thrown out with Bathwater Dispatch Page 1 Retinal
Processing: Smaller Babies Thrown out with Bathwater Martin Wilson Rod bipolar cells in the …

Effective sensory processing requires matching the gain of neural responses to the range of
signals encountered. For rod vision, gain controls operate at light levels at which photons …

Visually guided behaviour at its sensitivity limit relies on single-photon responses originating
in a small number of rod photoreceptors. For decades, researchers have debated the neural …

▪ Abstract Vision at absolute threshold is based on signals produced in a tiny fraction of the
rod photoreceptors. This requires that the rods signal the absorption of single photons, and …

Rod photoreceptors contribute to vision over an∼ 6-log-unit range of light intensities. The
wide dynamic range of rod vision is thought to depend upon light intensity-dependent …

Understanding the connection between neural circuit function and animal behavior
(including human) is a fundamental goal in neuroscience. This is generally a daunting …

Purpose:: Dark-adapted humans can detect flashes producing only a few photons absorbed
in a small region of the retina (Hecht et al., 1942; van der Velden, 1944). Today we still do …