Modeling the functional organization of the visual cortex

While many models of the dynamics and interactions of single neurons are extant, analogous constructs which attempt to describe large-scale (greater than or equal to O(10(8))) neuronal activity are few and far between. Optical imaging of the visual cortex makes such macroscopic neuronal activity accessible. Symmetries latent in the cortical architecture are used here to develop a scheme for analyzing such images. Ln this way, intrinsic modes of cortical response can be uncovered, using minimal assumptions. Some of these modes correspond to already-familiar features of the functional architecture, and it is highly likely that others hold physiological relevance as well. Finally, the number of such modes that would be required in a more fully developed model (incorporating cortical dynamics) is approximated.