Cortical extraction of informative multipoint correlations

Visual processing of informative multipoint correlations arises primarily in V2

Yunguo Yu, Anita M. Schmid, and Jonathan D. Victor

eLife 2015;10.7554/eLife.06604 (2015)

Abstract

Using the visual system as a model, we recently showed that the efficient coding principle accounted for the allocation of computational resources in central sensory processing: when sampling an image is the main limitation, resources are devoted to compute the statistical features that are the most variable, and therefore the most informative (eLife2014;3:e03722. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.03722 Hermundstad et al., 2014). Building on these results, we use single-unit recordings in the macaque monkey to determine where these computations -- sensitivity to specific multipoint correlations -- occur. We find that these computations take place in visual area V2, primarily in its supragranular layers. The demonstration that V2 neurons are sensitive to the multipoint correlations that are informative about natural images provides a common computational underpinning for diverse but well-recognized aspects of neural processing in V2, including its sensitivity to corners,junctions, illusory contours, figure/ground, and "naturalness."
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Figure 2 Supplement courtesy of eLife Sciences: V2 vs V1 differences in sensitivity to high-order control correlations are not a result of differences in receptive field size
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