Self-organization of spatiotemporal receptive fields and laterally connected direction and orientation maps

Studies of orientation maps in primary visual cortex (V1) suggest that lateral connections mediate competition and cooperation between orientation-selective units, but their role in motion perception has not been established. Using a self-organizing model of V1 with moving oriented patterns, we show that (1) afferent weights of each neuron organize into Gabor-like spatiotemporal receptive fields with ON and OFF lobes, (2) these receptive fields form realistic joint direction and orientation maps, and (3) lateral connections develop between patches with similar orientation and direction preferences. These results suggest that a single self-organizing system may underlie the development of orientation selectivity, direction selectivity, and lateral connectivity.