A modeling study of the dynamic interplay between pathways in the thalamocortical visual system: The Magno and Koniocellular streams case
Résumé
In the early visual system, regarding the detection of a visual event, local motion information is pre-processed in the Magnocellular pathway, while it has been shown that the Koniocellular pathway also plays an important role, providing a global a-priori estimation about such a kind of information processing. However, the functional interplay between these two parallel pathways remains partially understood. To fill this gap, we investigate, through simulations, the impact of the multi-scale characteristics of the Konio pathway in the Magno-driven thalamocortical system of the mammal. We propose a systemic retino-thalamo-cortico-collicular model, including feedforward, feedback and inhibitory connections. In order to provide a discriminative framework, the model implements minimal algorithms, such as spatio-temporal filters and dynamic neural fields, and is fed with a sequence of images. Our results show that the multi-scale interactions between both pathways, integrating local and larger image cues, account for target discrimination, selection and tracking in the presence of threats or targets. This approach proposes an innovative answer to the interplay issues between these pathways, and it is generalizable to other visuo-motor functions.