Competition is a driving force in topographic mapping

Competition is a driving force in topographic mapping.

Topographic maps are the primary means of relaying spatial information in the brain. Understanding the mechanisms by which they form has been a goal of experimental and theoretical neuroscientists for decades. The projection of the retina to the superior colliculus (SC)/tectum has been an important model used to show that graded molecular cues and patterned retinal activity are required for top...

Topographic mapping: Organising by repulsion and competition?

The establishment of topographic maps of neuronal connections is believed to involve graded repulsion mediated by EphA receptors and ephrin-A ligands. Gene knockouts show that ephrin-A ligands do indeed have a crucial role in mapping, and that mechanisms in addition to graded repulsion must also be at work.

Balancing of ephrin/Eph forward and reverse signaling as the driving force of adaptive topographic mapping.

The retinotectal projection, which topographically maps retinal axons onto the tectum of the midbrain, is an ideal model system with which to investigate the molecular genetics of embryonic brain wiring. Corroborating Sperry's seminal hypothesis, ephrin/Eph counter-gradients on both retina and tectum were found to represent matching chemospecificity markers. Intriguingly, however, it has never ...

What Is The Driving Force Behind Industrial Development In Iran? Rent Seeking And Labor Exploitation As The Driving Force Of Industrial Growth

A driving force.

Paul B. MacCready has a knack for knowing the difference between the impossible and that which is merely extremely difficult. In the late 1980s, MacCready, founder and CEO of AeroVironment, a company that consults on pollution management and wind energy, figured that a battery-powered automobile could be practical , provided the entire machine was optimized for efficiency. It would have to be e...