Joint maps for orientation, eye, and direction preference in a self-organizing model of V1

Primary visual cortex (V1) contains overlaid feature maps for orientation (OR), motion direction selectivity (DR), and ocular dominance (OD). Neurons in these maps are connected laterally in patchy, long-range patterns that follow the feature preferences. Using the LISSOM model, we show for the first time how realistic laterally connected joint OR/OD/DR maps can self-organize from Hebbian learning of moving natural images. The model predicts that lateral connections will link neurons of either eye preference and with similar DR and OR preferences. These results suggest that a single self-organizing system may underlie the development of spatiotemporal feature preferences and lateral connectivity. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.