Interplay of network structure and dynamics in functional organization of the visual cortex

Abstract

The functional patterns of the visual cortex observed in some mammals such as cats, primates, and humans has allowed us to understand basic principles of organization in the structure of the cortex. However, the observation of different kinds of functional arrangement in other animals such as mice, rats, rabbits, and squirrels, called salt and pepper patterns, raise questions about which of these principles can be transferred to the understanding of visual processing in general. In order to gain insight into these basic principles, in this work we propose a simple model for the formation of spatiotemporal patterns in the visual cortex. The model is based on coupled phase oscillators that interact through an evolving complex network that is embedded in a two-dimensional Euclidean space. In this way we are able to explore the relation between network structure and functional organization. We find that the model allows for the emergence of clustered synchronized states that are spatially segregated as some orientation maps, and also synchronized states that are spatially interspersed, resembling salt and pepper organizational maps.