Developmental models of functional maps in cortex

Abstract

Functional maps are observed in various areas in the brain of many species and are considered as key features that reveal the working mechanism of neural circuits. One particular example is the orientation preference map in the primary visual cortex (V1) in higher mammals, in which neurons respond selectively to the orientations of spatial components in visual stimuli. This cortical map has been studied extensively for years because it is thought important to understand how sensory information is encoded and decoded in the cortical neural network. An important question raised is how this map structure is created during early development, which has not been clearly answered for the past decades. Here I introduce the latest model views on this issue to discuss the developmental mechanism of the orientation preference maps, and more generally, how the development of the functional structure in the nervous system can be understood in mathematical model.