Weak universality in sensory tradeoffs

TL;DR

This paper uses rate-distortion theory to explain how organisms can hard-code sensory neuron numbers that are robust to environmental fluctuations, focusing on large environments where coarse-grained statistics suffice.

Contribution

It demonstrates that sensory tradeoffs depend on broad environmental statistics, revealing a form of weak universality in sensory system development.

Findings

Rate-distortion function depends on coarse environmental statistics

Hard-coded sensory neuron numbers are effective across fluctuating environments

Large environments exhibit weak universality in sensory tradeoffs

Abstract

For many organisms, the number of sensory neurons is largely determined during development, before strong environmental cues are present. This is despite the fact that environments can fluctuate drastically both from generation to generation and within an organism's lifetime. How can organisms get by by hard-coding the number of sensory neurons? We approach this question using rate-distortion theory. A combination of simulation and theory suggests that when environments are large, the rate-distortion function---a proxy for material costs, timing delays, and energy requirements---depends only on coarse-grained environmental statistics that are expected to change on evolutionary, rather than ontogenetic, timescales.