What Is Lateral Inhibition And Why Is It Important?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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Lateral inhibition refers to

the capacity of excited neurons to reduce the activity of their neighbors

. … Lateral inhibition plays an important role in visual perception by increasing the contrast and resolution of visual stimuli. This occurs at various levels of the visual system.

Why is lateral inhibition important?

Lateral inhibition enables

the brain to manage environmental input and avoid information overload

. By dampening the action of some sensory input and enhancing the action of others, lateral inhibition helps to sharpen our sense perception of sight, sound, touch, and smell.

What is the most important effect of lateral inhibition?

Lateral inhibition

disables the spreading of action potentials from excited neurons to neighboring neurons in the lateral direction

. This creates a contrast in stimulation that allows increased sensory perception.

What is the function of the lateral inhibition in the retina?

Retinal lateral inhibition (RLI) is also known as contrast encoder. RLI

creates a stimulation contrast allowing increased sensory perception and enhances the contrast between the center and the periphery in a stimulated region

.

What is lateral inhibition in psychology?

Lateral inhibition is

the phenomenon in which a neuron’s response to a stimulus is inhibited by the excitation of a neighboring neuron

. Lateral inhibition has been experimentally observed in the retina and the LGN of organisms [47].

How does lateral inhibition occur?

Lateral inhibition is a CNS process

whereby application of a stimulus to the center of the receptive field excites a neuron, but a stimulus applied near the edge inhibits it

.

What cells are responsible for lateral inhibition?

Lateral inhibition is produced in the retina by

interneurons (horizontal and amacrine cells)

that pool signals over a neighborhood of presynaptic feedforward cells (photoreceptors and bipolar cells) and send inhibitory signals back to them [14–17] (Fig 2).

Is lateral inhibition permissive or instructive?

Permissive induction occurs where the responding cell is already committed to a certain fate, and requires the inducing signal to proceed in the developmental pathway. Lateral inhibition is the

inhibition of a certain developmental process in one cell induced by signals from an adjacent

cell.

Is lateral inhibition important for detecting edges?

The goal of lateral inhibition is

to facilitate edge detection

. … It is for this reason that edge detection evolved. Lateral inhibition explains a famous visual illusion known as Mach bands, named after their discoverer, Physicist Ernst Mach (1838–1916). Lateral inhibition accentuates the edges of the stimulus.

What is a potential function of lateral inhibition quizlet?

a process in which lateral connections

allow one photoreceptor to inhibit the responsiveness of its neighbor

, thus enhancing the sensation of visual contrast.

What is lateral interaction?

Lateral interactions

occur at all levels in the retina

, from the Photoreceptors, the input neurons of the retina, through to ganglion cells ( Retinal ganglion cells), the output neurons of the retina. Lateral interactions may be positive or negative.

What specialized retinal cell is responsible for lateral inhibition?

Lateral inhibition is produced in the retina by

interneurons (horizontal and amacrine cells)

that pool signals over a neighborhood of presynaptic feedforward cells (photoreceptors and bipolar cells) and send inhibitory signals back to them [14–17] (Fig 2).

What is lateral retinal inhibition?

Most

optical illusions

result from processes in the cortex, but some do originate in the retina. One such illusion is the Hermann grid shown here, in which gray spots appear at the intersections of the rows and columns created by the squares, because of a phenomenon called lateral retinal inhibition.

Does lateral inhibition increase acuity?

Lateral inhibition is the ability of excited neurones to inhibit the activity of neighbouring neurones. This prevents the spread of neuronal activity laterally. Consequently, there exists an

increased contrast in excitation between neighbouring neurones

, allowing better sensory acuity.

What causes presynaptic inhibition?

Presynaptic inhibition is a phenomenon in which an inhibitory neuron provides synaptic input to the axon of another neuron (axo-axonal synapse) to make it less likely to fire an action potential. Presynaptic inhibition occurs

when an inhibitory neurotransmitter, like GABA, acts on GABA receptors on the axon terminal

.

Which best describes lateral inhibition in the somatic sensory system?

Which best describes lateral inhibition in the somatic sensory system?

The precision of locating a stimulus is increased by inhibiting signaling along nearby, parallel pathways

.

Charlene Dyck
Author
Charlene Dyck
Charlene is a software developer and technology expert with a degree in computer science. She has worked for major tech companies and has a keen understanding of how computers and electronics work. Sarah is also an advocate for digital privacy and security.