Square root intensity coding in turtle cones: Physiological mechanisms

Abstract

The effect of coupling on the intensity-response functions for full field and for slit stimuli was studied by comparing the shapes of the curves obtained from several strongly coupled red cones of turtle with that of one very weakly coupled cone. The full field V-log I curves could be fitted by a Michaelis-Menten relationship, regardless of the strength of the coupling. For the weakly coupled cone the slit V-log I could also be fitted by a Michaelis-Menten curve. For strongly coupled cones a major portion of the curve (1.2–2 log units of intensity) was better fitted by V ∝ I m. For centered slits “ m” was 0.5. With increased distance between the slit and the center of the receptive field “ m” was found to increase slightly. The results were analyzed in terms of a theory in which the shape of the slit intensity-response curves arises from scattered light progressively recruiting neighboring cone responses. An analytical formulation of this idea is presented and a plausible light distribution function which supports the recruitment hypothesis is derived. A numerical model of the cone network, which includes the effect of scattering and transduction saturation, accounts well for all of the experimental data obtained with single and paired slits.