A brief overview of intracortical circuits

François Grimbert (1)

1 ODYSSEE - Computer and biological vision

This report aims at giving an insight of the most salient features of intracortical connectivity, i.e., the structure of neuronal networks inside a cortical area. In the first part we raise the question of cortical columns, a blur and sometimes misused concept defining fundamental mesoscopic units in the cortex. Their role and structure show a lot of discrepancies across species and even across areas. In the second part, we focus on local circuits and try to get an insight of their complexity as well as their most important organizing laws, like the stereotypical excitatory pathway. The last part is dedicated to horizontal connectivity, illustrated through two famous examples: the primary visual cortex of mammals and the rat barrel cortex.

Domaines: Neurosciences [q-bio.NC]

François Grimbert. A brief overview of intracortical circuits. [Research Report] RR-6325, INRIA. 2007. ⟨inria-00180386v2⟩