Chklovskii Dmitri B, Koulakov Alexei A
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA.
Annu Rev Neurosci. 2004;27:369-92. doi: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144226.
In mammalian visual cortex, neurons are organized according to their functional properties into multiple maps such as retinotopic, ocular dominance, orientation preference, direction of motion, and others. What determines the organization of cortical maps? We argue that cortical maps reflect neuronal connectivity in intracortical circuits. Because connecting distant neurons requires costly wiring (i.e., axons and dendrites), there is an evolutionary pressure to place connected neurons as close to each other as possible. Then, cortical maps may be viewed as solutions that minimize wiring cost for given intracortical connectivity. These solutions can help us in inferring intracortical connectivity and, ultimately, in understanding the function of the visual system.
在哺乳动物的视觉皮层中，神经元根据其功能特性被组织成多个图谱，如视网膜拓扑图、眼优势图、方向偏好图、运动方向图等。是什么决定了皮层图谱的组织方式？我们认为皮层图谱反映了皮层内回路中的神经元连接。由于连接远距离的神经元需要耗费高昂的布线成本（即轴突和树突），因此存在一种进化压力，促使相互连接的神经元尽可能彼此靠近。那么，皮层图谱可被视为在给定皮层内连接情况下使布线成本最小化的解决方案。这些解决方案有助于我们推断皮层内的连接情况，并最终理解视觉系统的功能。
