Ocular Dominance and Patterned Lateral Connections in a Self-Organizing Model of the Primary Visual Cortex

For example, in the normal visual cortex, long-range lateral connections link areas with similar orientation preference (Gilbert and Wiesel 1989). Like cortical response properties, the connectivity pattern is highly plastic in early development and can be altered by experience (Katz and Callaway 1992). In a cat that is brought up squint-eyed from birth, the lateral connections link areas with the same ocular dominance instead of orientation (Lowel and Singer 1992). Such patterned lateral connections develop at the same time as the orientation selectivity and ocular dominance itself (Burkhalter et al.1993;