title: Winner-take-all selection in a neural system with delayed feedback.
abstract: We consider the effects of temporal delay in a neural feedback system with excitation and inhibition. The topology of our model system reflects the anatomy of the avian isthmic circuitry, a feedback structure found in all classes of vertebrates. We show that the system is capable of performing a 'winner-take-all' selection rule for certain combinations of excitatory and inhibitory feedback. In particular, we show that when the time delays are sufficiently large a system with local inhibition and global excitation can function as a 'winner-take-all' network and exhibit oscillatory dynamics. We demonstrate how the origin of the oscillations can be attributed to the finite delays through a linear stability analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA. sbrandt@physics.wustl.edu
authors.forename: Sebastian F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Brandt
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wessel
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D053444:Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology; D013681:Tegmentum Mesencephali / Q000502:physiology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology