313 research outputs found
Functional Organization of Visual Cortex in the Owl Monkey
In this study, we compared the organization of orientation preference in visual areas V1, V2, and V3. Within these visual areas, we also
quantified the relationship between orientation preference and cytochrome oxidase (CO) staining patterns. V1 maps of orientation
preference contained both pinwheels and linear zones. The location of CO blobs did not relate in a systematic way to maps of orientation;
although, as in other primates, there were approximately twice as many pinwheels as CO blobs. V2 contained bands of high and low
orientation selectivity. The bands of high orientation selectivity were organized into pinwheels and linear zones, but iso-orientation
domains were twice as large as those in V1. Quantitative comparisons between bands containing high or low orientation selectivity and
CO dark and light bands suggested that at least four functional compartments exist in V2, CO dense bands with either high or low
orientation selectivity, and CO light bands with either high or low selectivity. We also demonstrated that two functional compartments
exist in V3, with zones of high orientation selectivity corresponding to CO dense areas and zones of low orientation selectivity corresponding
to CO pale areas. Together with previous findings, these results suggest that the modular organization of V1 is similar across
primates and indeed across most mammals. V2 organization in owl monkeys also appears similar to that of other simians but different
from that of prosimians and other mammals. Finally, V3 of owl monkeys shows a compartmental organization for orientation selectivity
that remains to be demonstrated in other primates
Statistical structure of lateral connections in the primary visual cortex
The statistical structure of the visual world offers many useful clues for understanding how biological visual systems may understand natural scenes. One particularly important early process in visual object recognition is that of grouping together edges which belong to the same contour. The layout of edges in natural scenes have strong statistical structure. One such statistical property is that edges tend to lie on a common circle, and this 'co-circularity' can predict human performance at contour grouping. We therefore tested the hypothesis that long-range excitatory lateral connections in the primary visual cortex, which are believed to be involved in contour grouping, display a similar co-circular structure.By analyzing data from tree shrews, where information on both lateral connectivity and the overall structure of the orientation map was available, we found a surprising diversity in the relevant statistical structure of the connections. In particular, the extent to which co-circularity was displayed varied significantly.Overall, these data suggest the intriguing possibility that V1 may contain both co-circular and anti-cocircular connections
Pinwheel stabilization by ocular dominance segregation
We present an analytical approach for studying the coupled development of
ocular dominance and orientation preference columns. Using this approach we
demonstrate that ocular dominance segregation can induce the stabilization and
even the production of pinwheels by their crystallization in two types of
periodic lattices. Pinwheel crystallization depends on the overall dominance of
one eye over the other, a condition that is fulfilled during early cortical
development. Increasing the strength of inter-map coupling induces a transition
from pinwheel-free stripe solutions to intermediate and high pinwheel density
states.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Symmetry considerations and development of pinwheels in visual maps
Neurons in the visual cortex respond best to rod-like stimuli of given
orientation. While the preferred orientation varies continuously across most of
the cortex, there are prominent pinwheel centers around which all orientations
a re present. Oriented segments abound in natural images, and tend to be
collinear}; neurons are also more likely to be connected if their preferred
orientations are aligned to their topographic separation. These are indications
of a reduced symmetry requiring joint rotations of both orientation preference
and the underl ying topography. We verify that this requirement extends to
cortical maps of mo nkey and cat by direct statistical analysis. Furthermore,
analytical arguments and numerical studies indicate that pinwheels are
generically stable in evolving field models which couple orientation and
topography
Temporal decorrelation of collective oscillations in neural networks with local inhibition and long-range excitation
We consider two neuronal networks coupled by long-range excitatory
interactions. Oscillations in the gamma frequency band are generated within
each network by local inhibition. When long-range excitation is weak, these
oscillations phase-lock with a phase-shift dependent on the strength of local
inhibition. Increasing the strength of long-range excitation induces a
transition to chaos via period-doubling or quasi-periodic scenarios. In the
chaotic regime oscillatory activity undergoes fast temporal decorrelation. The
generality of these dynamical properties is assessed in firing-rate models as
well as in large networks of conductance-based neurons.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. accepted for publication in Physical Review
Letter
Saturation in phosphene size with increasing current levels delivered to human visual cortex
Electrically stimulating early visual cortex results in a visual percept known as a phosphene. Although phosphenes can be evoked by a wide range of electrode sizes and current amplitudes, they are invariably described as small. To better understand this observation, we electrically stimulated 93 electrodes implanted in the visual cortex of 13 human subjects who reported phosphene size while stimulation current was varied. Phosphene size increased as the stimulation current was initially raised above threshold, but then rapidly reached saturation. Phosphene size also depended on the location of the stimulated site, with size increasing with distance from the foveal representation. We developed a model relating phosphene size to the amount of activated cortex and its location within the retinotopic map. First, a sigmoidal curve was used to predict the amount of activated cortex at a given current. Second, the amount of active cortex was converted to degrees of visual angle by multiplying by the inverse cortical magnification factor for that retinotopic location. This simple model accurately predicted phosphene size for a broad range of stimulation currents and cortical locations. The unexpected saturation in phosphene sizes suggests that the functional architecture of cerebral cortex may impose fundamental restrictions on the spread of artificially evoked activity and this may be an important consideration in the design of cortical prosthetic devices
On a common circle: natural scenes and Gestalt rules
To understand how the human visual system analyzes images, it is essential to
know the structure of the visual environment. In particular, natural images
display consistent statistical properties that distinguish them from random
luminance distributions. We have studied the geometric regularities of oriented
elements (edges or line segments) present in an ensemble of visual scenes,
asking how much information the presence of a segment in a particular location
of the visual scene carries about the presence of a second segment at different
relative positions and orientations. We observed strong long-range correlations
in the distribution of oriented segments that extend over the whole visual
field. We further show that a very simple geometric rule, cocircularity,
predicts the arrangement of segments in natural scenes, and that different
geometrical arrangements show relevant differences in their scaling properties.
Our results show similarities to geometric features of previous physiological
and psychophysical studies. We discuss the implications of these findings for
theories of early vision.Comment: 3 figures, 2 large figures not include
Mean-field equations for stochastic firing-rate neural fields with delays: Derivation and noise-induced transitions
In this manuscript we analyze the collective behavior of mean-field limits of
large-scale, spatially extended stochastic neuronal networks with delays.
Rigorously, the asymptotic regime of such systems is characterized by a very
intricate stochastic delayed integro-differential McKean-Vlasov equation that
remain impenetrable, leaving the stochastic collective dynamics of such
networks poorly understood. In order to study these macroscopic dynamics, we
analyze networks of firing-rate neurons, i.e. with linear intrinsic dynamics
and sigmoidal interactions. In that case, we prove that the solution of the
mean-field equation is Gaussian, hence characterized by its two first moments,
and that these two quantities satisfy a set of coupled delayed
integro-differential equations. These equations are similar to usual neural
field equations, and incorporate noise levels as a parameter, allowing analysis
of noise-induced transitions. We identify through bifurcation analysis several
qualitative transitions due to noise in the mean-field limit. In particular,
stabilization of spatially homogeneous solutions, synchronized oscillations,
bumps, chaotic dynamics, wave or bump splitting are exhibited and arise from
static or dynamic Turing-Hopf bifurcations. These surprising phenomena allow
further exploring the role of noise in the nervous system.Comment: Updated to the latest version published, and clarified the dependence
in space of Brownian motion
Laminar Cortical Dynamics of 3D Surface Perception: Stratification, transparency, and Neon Color Spreading
How does the laminar organization of cortical circuitry in areas VI and V2 give rise to 3D percepts of stratification, transparency, and neon color spreading in response to 2D pictures and 3D scenes? Psychophysical experiments have shown that such 3D percepts are sensitive to whether contiguous image regions have the same relative contrast polarity (dark-light or lightdark), yet long-range perceptual grouping is known to pool over opposite contrast polarities. The ocularity of contiguous regions is also critical for neon color spreading: Having different ocularity despite the contrast relationship that favors neon spreading blocks the spread. In addition, half visible points in a stereogram can induce near-depth transparency if the contrast relationship favors transparency in the half visible areas. It thus seems critical to have the whole contrast relationship in a monocular configuration, since splitting it between two stereogram images cancels the effect. What adaptive functions of perceptual grouping enable it to both preserve sensitivity to monocular contrast and also to pool over opposite contrasts? Aspects of cortical development, grouping, attention, perceptual learning, stereopsis and 3D planar surface perception have previously been analyzed using a 3D LAMINART model of cortical areas VI, V2, and V4. The present work consistently extends this model to show how like-polarity competition between VI simple cells in layer 4 may be combined with other LAMINART grouping mechanisms, such as cooperative pooling of opposite polarities at layer 2/3 complex cells. The model also explains how the Metelli Rules can lead to transparent percepts, how bistable transparency percepts can arise in which either surface can be perceived as transparent, and how such a transparency reversal can be facilitated by an attention shift. The like-polarity inhibition prediction is consistent with lateral masking experiments in which two f1anking Gabor patches with the same contrast polarity as the target increase the target detection threshold when they approach the target. It is also consistent with LAMINART simulations of cortical development. Other model explanations and testable predictions will also be presented.Air Force Office of Naval Research (F49620-01-1-0397); Office of Naval Research (N00014-01-1-0624
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