Lateral inhibition as a possible mechanism for evaluating stimulus intensity

This article presents results obtained by simulation modeling of neural networks which show that lateral inhibitory connections between neurons can in principle, when the parameters of these connections are selected appropriately, support the existence in the CNS of detectors for the intensity of an acting signal. A condition for the operation of the proposed detection mechanism is the physiologically demonstrated fact of an inverse proportional relationship between the latency of neuron responses to a threshold stimulus and the intensity of this stimulus.