| RefNo | EC/1969/01 |
| Previous numbers | Cert XVIII, 112 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Barlow, Horace Basil: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Description | Citation typed |
| Citation | Distinguished for his analysis of the way that visual information is encoded as significant nerve signals.
He was the first to show (in the frog) the fundamental organization of optic nerve fibres, namely that each is connected to a clump of receptors that excite, surrounded by a ring that inhibits. With Fitzhugh and Kuffler he analysed how this organization (cat) changes in dark adaptation.
Barlow's experiments on man have greatly strengthened the modern concept of threshold as signal detection in noisy channels, and he has measured the quantum efficiency of seeing in various conditions.
With Levick he has shown that rabbits have optic nerves that signal not position but direction of movement, and by ingenious experiments has analysed the neural mechanism by which specific movement is encoded. |
| AccessStatus | Open |
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Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA4295 | Barlow; Horace Basil (1921 - 2020) | 1921 - 2020 |