Models of the Visual Cortex

Abstract

Models in biology tend to be informal. Usually, a model simply states a problem and organizes related scientific work. In Models of the Visual Cortex , problems in visual neuroscience are discussed in short, nonmathematical articles, with each one organized around a model. As a result, the book provides a clear, comprehensive summary of most of the major areas of investigation of the primary visual cortex. Students of molecular biology in the 1960s and 1970s could have read Watson's The Molecular Biology of the Gene and almost immediately entered the mainstream of research in that area. While no such text exists for students of visual neuroscience, this book comes fairly close. It is not easy reading and demands a commitment of time and concentration. Ironically, the editors have assembled an excellent book despite their own rather formal notions of what a model should be. Most of the problems addressed by