Sensory Selectivity in Random Cortical Circuits

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Sensory Selectivity in Random Cortical Circuits Cengiz Pehlevan1* and Haim Sompolinsky1 1 Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, United States How does selectivity to stimulus features arise in the sensory cortex? Experiment suggests that local connectivity in certain sensory cortical areas is not biased towards functional similarity but anatomical proximity, regardless of the existence of feature maps. On the other hand, computational models use structured connectivity and/or plasticity to achieve sensory selectivity. We use analytical and computational methods to show that recurrent networks in the balanced regime, where the network is driven by strong fluctuations as a result of strong excitation and inhibition, can generate selectivity to levels observed in biology with unbiased (both in the mean number of connections and connection weights) random connectivity in functional space. We use this idea to model rodent V1 layer 2/3 circuitry with input from an orientation selective pool of neurons, mimicking layer 4 cells. What causes selectivity in such a network? Irregularity due to random sampling causes neurons to receive non-uniform input across changes in stimulus orientation. Connection probability conditioned on difference in preferred orientation is modulated with a small bias towards similar orientation preference. Furthermore, selectivity achieved in these networks is robust to contrast changes, a central feature observed in visual cortex, and to average number of input connections to a neuron. We compare the balanced network to a network characterized by weak synapses and hence driven by the mean signal. Although it is possible to achieve a high selectivity in this scenario, robustness to contrast and average number of input connections is lost. Finally we consider an application of the balanced network to rodent olfactory cortex and study odor representation in olfactory cortex with random projections from olfactory bulb. Keywords: balanced networks, random networks, sensory select Conference: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011, Freiburg, Germany, 4 Oct - 6 Oct, 2011. Presentation Type: Poster Topic: sensory processing (please use "sensory processing" as keyword) Citation: Pehlevan C and Sompolinsky H (2011). Sensory Selectivity in Random Cortical Circuits. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011. doi: 10.3389/conf.fncom.2011.53.00036 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 30 Aug 2011; Published Online: 04 Oct 2011. * Correspondence: Dr. Cengiz Pehlevan, Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Harvard, United States, cpehlevan@simonsfoundation.org Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract Supplemental Data The Authors in Frontiers Cengiz Pehlevan Haim Sompolinsky Google Cengiz Pehlevan Haim Sompolinsky Google Scholar Cengiz Pehlevan Haim Sompolinsky PubMed Cengiz Pehlevan Haim Sompolinsky Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.