Development of orientation columns via competition between ON- and OFF-center inputs.
Development of orientation-selective receptive fields in primary visual cortex of higher mammals can occur through activity-dependent competition between ON-center and OFF-center inputs. This competition yields orientation and spatial-frequency-selective 'simple cells' if the dark activity of ON (or OFF)-center inputs is best correlated with that of other ON (or OFF)-center inputs at small retinotopic separations and with that of OFF (ON)-center inputs at larger separations. Features of cat and monkey cortical organization emerge, including continuous and periodic arrangement of preferred orientation across the cortex. A new feature, systematic variation of receptive field spatial phase, is predicted. Experimental tests of this hypothesis are proposed.
Miller
K D
KD
Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0444.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D002415:Cats; D000882:Haplorhini; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology