(PhysOrg.com) -- Generally speaking, animals and humans maintain their sense of balance in their three-dimensional environment without difficulty. In addition to the vestibular system, their navigation is often aided by the eyes. Every movement causes the environment to move past the eyes in a characteristic way. On the basis of this "optic flow", the nerve cells then calculate the organism's self-motion. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology have now shown how nerve cells succeed in calculating self-motion while confronted with differing backgrounds. So far, none of the established models for optical processing were able to cope with this requirement. (Neuron, 26 August 2010).
Nerve cells use internal amplifiers to compensate for discrepancies in optic input
- PhysOrg
- 15. 9 2010 (22:23)