Thresholds of polarization vision in octopus [RESEARCH ARTICLE]

In this study, the ability of octopus to detect polarization contrasts varying in angle of polarization (AoP) was investigated over a range of different degrees of linear polarization (DoLP) to better judge their visual ability in more ecologically relevant conditions. The ‘just-noticeable-differences’ (JND) of AoP contrasts varied consistently with DoLP. These JND thresholds could be largely explained by their polarization distance, a neurophysical model that effectively calculates the level of activity in opposing horizontally and vertically oriented polarization channels in the cephalopod visual system. Imaging polarimetry from the animals’ natural environment was then used to illustrate the functional advantage that these polarization thresholds may confer in behaviourally relevant contexts.

Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - March 10, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Temple, S. E., How, M. J., Powell, S. B., Gruev, V., Marshall, N. J., Roberts, N. W. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research