A Neural Model of Human Object Recognition Development

Abstract. The human capability of recognizing objects visually is here held to be a function emerging as result of interactions between epigenetic influences and basic neural plasticity mechanisms. The model here proposed simulates the development of the main neural processes of the visual system giving rise to the higher function of recognizing objects. It is a hierarchy of artificial neural maps, mainly based on the LISSOM architecture, achieving self-organization through simulated intercortical lateral connections.