Prenatal and postnatal development of laterally connected orientation maps

Both environmental and genetic factors interact to produce the orientation maps found in the primary visual cortex of adult mammals. However, it is not clear how this interaction occurs during development, or whether both factors are crucial. Previous computational models have focused on either environmentally driven or genetically driven development alone. In contrast, we show that a two-stage model of development can account for a wider range of experimental data. The model explains how environmental and genetic information can be incorporated into the same neural hardware, using a common set of learning mechanisms. Our results suggest that while either environmental or genetically driven development is sufficient for maps and selectivity to form, prenatal activity speeds up early development and makes it more robust against environmental variation.

[1]  Risto Miikkulainen,et al.  Learning Innate Face Preferences , 2003, Neural Computation.

[2]  D. Fitzpatrick,et al.  Unequal representation of cardinal and oblique contours in ferret visual cortex. , 1998, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[3]  W. Singer,et al.  Development of Orientation Preference Maps in Area 18 of Kitten Visual Cortex , 1997, The European journal of neuroscience.

[4]  M. Stryker,et al.  Development of orientation selectivity in ferret visual cortex and effects of deprivation , 1993, The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience.

[5]  F. Sengpiel,et al.  Influence of experience on orientation maps in cat visual cortex , 1999, Nature Neuroscience.

[6]  R. Linsker,et al.  From basic network principles to neural architecture , 1986 .

[7]  M. Stryker,et al.  The role of visual experience in the development of columns in cat visual cortex. , 1998, Science.

[8]  N. Swindale.  The development of topography in the visual cortex: a review of models. , 1996, Network.

[9]  C. Blakemore,et al.  Innate and environmental factors in the development of the kitten's visual cortex. , 1975, The Journal of physiology.

[10]  Jeffrey A. Sloan,et al.  Spatial frequency analysis of the visual environment: Anisotropy and the carpentered environment hypothesis , 1978, Vision Research.

[11]  M. Stryker,et al.  Development of Orientation Preference Maps in Ferret Primary Visual Cortex , 1996, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[12]  E W Lang,et al.  An Incremental Hebbian Learning Model of the Primary Visual Cortex with Lateral Plasticity and Real Input Patterns , 1999, Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung. C, Journal of biosciences.

[13]  Risto Miikkulainen,et al.  Tilt Aftereffects in a Self-Organizing Model of the Primary Visual Cortex , 2000, Neural Computation.

[14]  T. Bonhoeffer,et al.  Overrepresentation of horizontal and vertical orientation preferences in developing ferret area 17. , 1998, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[15]  Risto Miikkulainen,et al.  Cooperative self-organization of afferent and lateral connections in cortical maps , 1994, Biological Cybernetics.

[16]  R. Miikkulainen,et al.  Learning to see: genetic and environmental influences on visual development , 2002 .

[17]  G. F. Cooper,et al.  Development of the Brain depends on the Visual Environment , 1970, Nature.

[18]  R Linsker,et al.  From basic network principles to neural architecture: emergence of orientation columns. , 1986, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.