As far as I know, it’s plausible to me that different neuron firing rates can represent different degrees of valence pretty close to continuously, so extra neurons might not be necessary to increase the resolution.
There are practical limitations about the resolution with which neurons can increase resolution (noise would be limiting factor, maybe other considerations). A common ‘design scheme’ that gets around this is range fractionation: If the receptors are endowed with distinct transfer functions in such a way that the points of highest sensitivity are scattered along the axis of the quality being measured, the precision of the sense organ as a whole can be increased. This example of mechanosensory neural encoding in hawkmoths is a good example of range fractionation (and where I first heard about it).
Range fractionation is one common example where extra neurons increase resolution. There may be other ways that neural resolution can be increased without extra neurons. Also note that this has mostly been studied in peripheral sensory systems—I’m not sure if similar encoding schemes have been considered to represent the resolution of subjective experiences that are solely represented in the CNS.
As far as I know, it’s plausible to me that different neuron firing rates can represent different degrees of valence pretty close to continuously, so extra neurons might not be necessary to increase the resolution.
There are practical limitations about the resolution with which neurons can increase resolution (noise would be limiting factor, maybe other considerations). A common ‘design scheme’ that gets around this is range fractionation: If the receptors are endowed with distinct transfer functions in such a way that the points of highest sensitivity are scattered along the axis of the quality being measured, the precision of the sense organ as a whole can be increased.
This example of mechanosensory neural encoding in hawkmoths is a good example of range fractionation (and where I first heard about it).
Range fractionation is one common example where extra neurons increase resolution. There may be other ways that neural resolution can be increased without extra neurons. Also note that this has mostly been studied in peripheral sensory systems—I’m not sure if similar encoding schemes have been considered to represent the resolution of subjective experiences that are solely represented in the CNS.