Pattern formation and cortical maps

The response selectivities of neurons in adult primary sensory cortices depend on intricate patterns of synaptic connections; these selectivities are arranged over cortex in equally rich fashion. Characterising these patterns, and particularly the activity-dependence (and independence) of their developmental trajectories, has been a major task for experimental and theoretical neuroscience. Here, we describe and analyse a paradigmatic algorithm for activity-dependent development of the refinement and generation of neuronal selectivities, and relate it to some of the wealth of suggestions in the literature.