Relating information capacity to a biophysical model for blowfly retina

Our goal is to relate the structural and biophysical characteristics of blowfly visual neurons to their functional information processing aspects. Starting with the biophysics of information flow in the the early visual system of the blowfly, we construct a communication channel model that describes transmission and degradation of the visual signal in the photoreceptor and large monopolar cell. The channel model is a cascade of linear bandlimiting sections each followed by additive noise. Each section is modelled from first principles when possible, and parameters are determined from biophysical data available in the literature. The information capacity computed using our model compares favorably with empirical information rates derived from physiological experiments.