The spatial and temporal effects of lateral inhibitory networks and their relevance to the visibility of spatiotemporal edges

The response dynamics of neurons in the visual pathway are driven, in part, by the dynamics of lateral inhibitory networks. Illusions of invisibility, such as the visual masking illusions, in addition to the dynamics of visibility itself, can be explained by the actions of such networks. Here we provide a descriptive model of a lateral inhibitory network in space and time. We provide physiological evidence that neurons in the early visual system of primates respond in a fashion predicted by these temporal dynamics. Furthermore, we discuss how the network predicts the existence of novel visual illusions and their physiological correlates. c © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.