A time-based approach towards cortical functions: Neural mechanisms underlying dynamic aspects of information processing before and after postontogenetic plastic processes (Q1817032)

Over the last years, the exploration of dynamic aspects of brain functions has gained a great deal of attraction. This articles summarizes research about cortical receptive field dynamics and representational map dynamics, and outlines the concept of a time-based processing scheme. The first part of the article reviews and summerizes previous and most-recent work of our laboratory about receptive field dynamics observed for three different modalities. In the second part, a temporal distributed processing scheme (TDP) is presented that accounts for the described dynamics of receptive fields (RFs) and representational maps. Finally, the article deals with plastic reorganizatioal processes observed in adult mammals, which are referred to as postontogenetic plasticity. These experiments demonstrate a considerable capacity of receptive fields and representational maps to adapt to changing constraints of the environment even after the critical developmental periods. Most notable are our latest results about changes of the dynamics of RFs during post-ontogenetic reorganization that could relate normal ongoing processing to plastic adaptive processes of adults. This is the starting point for an attempt to fuse dynamic information processing and postontogenetic plasticity in an understanding of learning and implicit memory functions of cortical systems.