Light adaptation and reliability in blowfly photoreceptors.

We characterize the reliability of response of blowfly photoreceptors at different light levels. These cells convey their information by graded potentials. Their reliability is quantified by the frequency-dependent contrast-normalized signal to noise ratio. Independently we estimate the effective photoconversion rate of the cells by counting individual photoconversion events, or quantum bumps, at calibrated low light levels. Comparing both results we quantify the statistical efficiency of photoconversion at higher light intensities, characterizing the transduction efficiency as a function of frequency. The light intensities used in these experiments ranged from about 300 to about 5 x 10(5) photoconversions per second per photoreceptor. Over most of this range, statistical efficiencies are within 50% at frequencies up to about 100 Hz.