(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (part of the Novartis Research Foundation) have identified a new neural circuit in the retina responsible for the detection of approaching objects. Surprisingly, however, this is not the only function the circuit fulfills. The same nerve cells are also responsible for night-time vision. This is the first time such a dual function has been demonstrated, shedding new light on the nervous system's information-processing capacity.