An ultimate goal in retina science is to understand how the neural circuit of the retina processes natural visual scenes. Yet most studies in laboratories have long been performed with simple, artificial visual stimuli such as full-field illumination, spots of light, or gratings. The underlying assumption is that the features of the retina thus identified carry over to the more complex scenario of natural scenes. As the application of corresponding natural settings is becoming more commonplace in experimental investigations, this assumption is being put to the test and opportunities arise to discover processing features that are triggered by specific aspects of natural scenes. Here, we review how natural stimuli have been used to probe, refine, and complement knowledge accumulated under simplified stimuli, and we discuss challenges and opportunities along the way toward a comprehensive understanding of the encoding of natural scenes.

中文翻译：

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自然场景的视网膜编码

视网膜科学的最终目标是了解视网膜的神经回路如何处理自然视觉场景。然而，实验室中的大多数研究长期以来都是通过简单的人工视觉刺激进行的，例如全场照明、光斑或光栅。基本假设是，由此识别的视网膜特征可以延续到更复杂的自然场景场景。随着相应自然环境的应用在实验研究中变得越来越普遍，这种假设正在接受检验，并且有机会发现由自然场景的特定方面触发的处理特征。在这里，我们回顾了如何使用自然刺激来探索、完善和补充在简化刺激下积累的知识，并讨论了全面理解自然场景编码过程中的挑战和机遇。