Recurrent Long-Range Interactions in Early Vision

Abstract. A general principle of cortical architecture is the bidirectional flow of information along feedforward and feedback connections. In the feedforward path, converging connections mainly define the feature detection characteristics of cells. The computational role of feedback connections, on the contrary, is largely unknown. Based on empirical findings we suggest that top-down feedback projections modulate activity of target cells in a context dependent manner. The context is represented by the spatial extension and direction of long-range connections. In this scheme, bottom-up activity which is consistent in a more global context is enhanced, inconsistent activity is suppressed. We present two instantiations of this general scheme having complementary functionality, namely a model of cortico-cortical V1–V2 interactions and a model of recurrent intracortical V1 interactions. The models both have long-range interactions for the representation of contour shapes and modulatin...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2001
• Where: NEUROSCIENCE
• Authors: Thorsten Hansen, Wolfgang Sepp, Heiko Neumann
• Keywords: Applied Computing, Feedback Connections, Illusory Contours, Long-range Connections, NEUROSCIENCE 2001