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The Role of Lateral Connections in Visual Cortex:
Dynamics and Information Processing
Marius Usher 
,
Martin Stemmler 
, and Ernst Niebur 
- Department of Psychology,
University of Kent at Canterbury
Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NP, UK
- Computation and Neural Systems
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, CA 91125
- Zanvyl Krieger Mind/Brain Institute
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD 21218
m.usher@ukc.ac.uk,
stemmler@klab.caltech.edu,
niebur@jhu.edu
Abstract:
The development of the columnar structure of neocortex
and its interconnections has been the subject
of many models. In this chapter, we instead address the
functional role of existing horizontal (lateral) connections
in the processing of sensory information. We first show
how the spiking nature of cell discharge
interacts with the dynamics arising from the local
architecture of connections,
leading to a qualitative match to the typical temporal
patterns of neural activity measured in visual cortex.
Secondly, we discuss the role played by the horizontal
connections in the processing of visual information, as
exemplified by three types of computations:
binding and grouping of visual stimuli
by synchronized local field potentials, pop-out of
visual feature gradients and line or contour completion.
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