All cortical and thalamic levels of sensory processing are subject to powerful top-down
influences, the shaping of lower-level processes by more complex information. New findings …

Surround modulation (SM) is a fundamental property of sensory neurons in many species
and sensory modalities. SM is the ability of stimuli in the surround of a neuron's receptive …

Attention typically amplifies neuronal responses evoked by task-relevant stimuli while
attenuating responses to task-irrelevant distracters. In this context, visual distracters …

Brain function relies on the coordination of activity across multiple, recurrently connected
brain areas. For instance, sensory information encoded in early sensory areas is relayed to …

Recent findings [HOT06] have made possible the learning of deep layered hierarchical
representations of data mimicking the brains working. It is hoped that this paradigm will …

The spiking activity of cortical neurons is correlated. For instance, trial-to-trial fluctuations in
response strength are shared between neurons, and spikes often occur synchronously …

The human brain is not a passive organ simply waiting to be activated by external stimuli.
Instead, we propose that the brain continuously employs memory of past experiences to …

A central question in visual neuroscience is what circuits generate the responses of neurons
in the primary visual cortex (V1). V1 neurons respond best to oriented stimuli of optimal size …

Primary and secondary visual cortex (V1 and V2) form the foundation of the cortical visual
system. V1 transforms information received from the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and …

Cortical feedback is thought to mediate cognitive processes like attention, prediction, and
awareness. Understanding its function requires identifying the organizational logic of …