Direction of motion maps in the visual cortex: a wire length minimization approach

In the visual cortex, many neurons respond preferentially to one direction of motion. Maps of direction preference vary in appearance between species and cortical areas. We propose that the observed variability in map appearance re/ect the variability in intra-cortical circuits as a consequence of wire length minimization. This hypothesis allows us to bypass a detailed developmental analysis of map formation. We solve the layout optimization problem numerically for various intra-cortical circuits and obtain direction preference maps that reproduce the observed variability in map appearance. These results allow one to infer intra-cortical connectivity from the appearance of direction preference maps. c © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.