title: Opponent inhibition: a developmental model of layer 4 of the neocortical circuit.
abstract: We model the development of the functional circuit of layer 4 (the input-recipient layer) of cat primary visual cortex. The observed thalamocortical and intracortical circuitry codevelop under Hebb-like synaptic plasticity. Hebbian development yields opponent inhibition: inhibition evoked by stimuli anticorrelated with those that excite a cell. Strong opponent inhibition enables recognition of stimulus orientation in a manner invariant to stimulus contrast. These principles may apply to cortex more generally: Hebb-like plasticity can guide layer 4 of any piece of cortex to create opposition between anticorrelated stimulus pairs, and this enables recognition of specific stimulus patterns in a manner invariant to stimulus magnitude. Properties that are invariant across a cortical column are predicted to be those shared by opponent stimulus pairs; this contrasts with the common idea that a column represents cells with similar response properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, W.M. Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Kayser
authors.forename: Kenneth D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology; D002415:Cats; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*