Development of spatiotemporal receptive fields of simple cells. I: Model formulation (Q1384492)

A model for the development of spatiotemporal receptive fields of simple cells in the visual cortex is proposed. The model is based on the hypothesis of \textit{A.B. Saul} and \textit{A.L. Humphrey} [J. Neurophysiol. 64, 206-224 (1990)] that the convergence of four types of input onto a cortical cell, viz. non-lagged ON and OFF inputs and lagged ON and OFF inputs, underlies the spatial and temporal structure of the receptive fields. It therefore explains both orientation and direction selectivity of simple cells. The response properties of the four types of input are described by the product of linear spatial and temporal response functions. Extending the model of \textit{K. D. Miller} [J. Neurosci. 14, 409-441 (1994)], we describe the development of spatiotemporal receptive fields as a Hebbian learning process taking into account not only spatial but also temporal correlations between the different inputs. We derive the correlation functions that drive the development both for the period before and after eye-opening and demonstrate how the joint development of orientation and direction selectivity can be understood in the framework of correlation-based learning.