Topic: predictive latency shift

The efficient coding theory postulates that sensory neurons compress relevant information before sending it to the rest of the brain. To this end, these neurons are thought not to signal all input features, but only surprising events, e.g. mismatches between expected and perceived inputs. In the retina, it has been shown that ganglion cells, the retinal output, strongly respond when a periodic sequence of flashes suddenly ends. Strikingly, the latency of this response shifts by the same amount as the period of the flash sequence, as if ganglion cells responded to the omitted flash with constan