Modeling the functional organization of the visual cortex

While many models of the dynamics and interactions of single neurons are extant, analogous constructs which attempt to describe large-scale (≥O(10⁸)) neuronal activity are few and far between. Optical imaging of the visual cortex makes such macroscopic neuronal activity accessible. Symmetries latent in the cortical architecture are used here to develop a scheme for analyzing such images. In this way, intrinsic modes of cortical response can be uncovered, using minimal assumptions. Some of these modes correspond to already-familiar features of the functional architecture, and it is highly likely that others hold physiological relevance as well. Finally, the number of such modes that would be required in a more fully developed model (incorporating cortical dynamics) is approximated.