dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaInformation Optimization in Coupled Audio-Visual Cortical Maps
| Authors | Mehran Kardar, A. Zee |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0208029 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0208029 |
| DOI | 10.1073/pnas.252472699 |
Abstract
Barn owls hunt in the dark by using cues from both sight and sound to locate their prey. This task is facilitated by topographic maps of the external space formed by neurons (e.g., in the optic tectum) that respond to visual or aural signals from a specific direction. Plasticity of these maps has been studied in owls forced to wear prismatic spectacles that shift their visual field. Adaptive behavior in young owls is accompanied by a compensating shift in the response of (mapped) neurons to auditory signals. We model the receptive fields of such neurons by linear filters that sample correlated audio-visual signals, and search for filters that maximize the gathered information, while subject to the costs of rewiring neurons. Assuming a higher fidelity of visual information, we find that the corresponding receptive fields are robust and unchanged by artificial shifts. The shape of the aural receptive field, however, is controlled by correlations between sight and sound. In response to prismatic glasses, the aural receptive fields shift in the compensating direction, although their shape is modified due to the costs of rewiring.
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"abstract": "Barn owls hunt in the dark by using cues from both sight and sound to locate\ntheir prey. This task is facilitated by topographic maps of the external space\nformed by neurons (e.g., in the optic tectum) that respond to visual or aural\nsignals from a specific direction. Plasticity of these maps has been studied in\nowls forced to wear prismatic spectacles that shift their visual field.\nAdaptive behavior in young owls is accompanied by a compensating shift in the\nresponse of (mapped) neurons to auditory signals. We model the receptive fields\nof such neurons by linear filters that sample correlated audio-visual signals,\nand search for filters that maximize the gathered information, while subject to\nthe costs of rewiring neurons. Assuming a higher fidelity of visual\ninformation, we find that the corresponding receptive fields are robust and\nunchanged by artificial shifts. The shape of the aural receptive field,\nhowever, is controlled by correlations between sight and sound. In response to\nprismatic glasses, the aural receptive fields shift in the compensating\ndirection, although their shape is modified due to the costs of rewiring.",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0208029",
"authors": [
"Mehran Kardar",
"A. Zee"
],
"categories": [
"physics.bio-ph",
"cond-mat.stat-mech",
"q-bio"
],
"doi": "10.1073/pnas.252472699",
"title": "Information Optimization in Coupled Audio-Visual Cortical Maps",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0208029"
},
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