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Noise reduction in analogue computation of Drosophila photoreceptors

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Abstract

The efficient information encoding and computation in the presence of noise is the basis of the sensory transduction and neural architecture of all living organisms. One of the fundamental barriers in this optimization task is the noise which obscures the desired signal detection if it is too weak, or degrades the information content during the signal encoding and processing. Here we describe how a relatively simple invertebrate organism suppresses noise at the molecular level, to the extent that it is able to detect a single photon at room temperatures. Thus molecular biology might be an inspiration in reaching the physical limits of information processing.

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Correspondence to Konstantin Nikolic.

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Nikolic, K., Loizu, J., Degenaar, P. et al. Noise reduction in analogue computation of Drosophila photoreceptors. J Comput Electron 7, 458–461 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-008-0178-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10825-008-0178-6

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