Figure 6.

(A) Information cells and uncertainty tradeoff. The three rectangles are the information cells. Their projections on dimensions x and f_x represent, respectively, the precision of measuring signal location and content: the larger the projection, the lower the precision (higher uncertainty) of measurement. The cells have the same area (product of intervals on x and f_x) but their shapes vary. (B) Uncertainty functions in one dimension. Curves B₁ and B₂ are the uncertainty functions associated with measuring signal location and content, by a sensor of size Ax. The values of B₁ and B₂ are proportional to, respectively, the horizontal and vertical extents of the information cells in panel A. B₃ is a joint-uncertainty function. It represents the uncertainty of simultaneous measurement of stimulus location and content. Low values of B₃ at intermediate magnitudes of Ax indicate that sensors of intermediate size are most suitable for jointly measuring signal location and content.