Modeling spatial patterns in the visual cortex

YUDY CAROLINA DAZA CARO; CAROLINA TAURO; FRANCISCO ANTONIO TAMARIT; PABLO GLEISER

PHYSICAL REVIEW E

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2014 vol. 90 p. 42818 - 42824

1539-3755

We propose a model for the formation of patterns in the visual cortex. The dynamical units of the model are Kuramoto phase oscillators that interact through a complex network structure embedded in two dimensions. In this way the strength of the interactions takes into account the geographical distance between units.We show that for different parameters, clustered or striped patterns emerge. Using the structure factor as an order parameter we are able to quantitatively characterize these patterns and present a phase diagram. Finally, we show that the model is able to reproduce patterns with cardinal preference, as observed in ferrets.