Ocular dominance patterns and the wire length minimization: a numerical study

Abstract

We study a mathematical model for ocular dominance patterns (ODPs) in primary visual cortex. This model is based on the premise that ODP is an adaptation to minimize the length of intra-cortical wiring. Thus we attempt to understand the existing ODPs by solving a wire length minimization problem. We divide all the neurons into two classes: left- and right-eye dominated. We find that segregation of neurons into monocular regions reduces wire length if the number of connections to the neurons of the same class (intraocular) differs from the number of interocular connections. The shape of the regions depends on the relative fraction of neurons in the two classes. We find that if both classes are almost equally represented, the optimal ODP consists of interdigitating stripes. If one class is less numerous than the other, the optimal ODP consists of patches of the less abundant class surrounded by the neurons of the other class. We predict that the transition from stripes to patches occurs when the fraction of neurons dominated by the underrepresented eye is about 40%. This prediction agrees with the data in macaque and Cebus monkeys. We also study the dependence of the periodicity of ODP on the parameters of our model.