060607 Kisvarday

The Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Freiburg

Announcement for the next

BCCN Seminar

Zoltán F. Kisvárday, PhD, DSc

Laboratory for Cortical Systems Neuroscience
Department of Anatomy, Histology & Embryology
University of Debrecen
Hungary

Model-based analysis of long-range excitatory connections in the visual cortex

Long-range lateral connections within the primary visual cortex have been assumed to represent the first stage of integrating discrete iso-oriented line segments within the visual field utilising the Gestalt principles such as similarity and closeness. Here, we studied the potential of the iso-orientation connectivity rule to predict the distribution of excitatory neurones in relation to orientation preference and cortical location. Using a compound Gaussian-based model we were able to describe the patterns of large populations of excitatory neurones. However, individual neurones often showed significant deviations from the population model. These results suggest that long-range excitatory cells (i) are engaged with functional representations in addition to orientation and position and (ii) involved in more complex feature-integration processes than that indicated by the population data.

Host: Dr. Clemens Boucsein