An Architectural Mechanism for Direction-tuned Cortical Simple Cells: The Role of Mutual Inhibition

A linear architectural model of cortical simple cells is presented. The model evidences how mutual inhibition, occurring through synaptic coupling functions asymmetrically distributed in space, can be a possible basis for a wide variety of spatiotemporal simple cell response properties, including direction selectivity and velocity tuning. While spatial asymmetries are included explicitly in the structure of the inhibitory interconnections, temporal asymmetries originate from the specific mutual inhibition scheme considered. Extensive simulations supporting the model are reported.