Cortical amplification models of experience-dependent development of selective columns and response sparsification

Sensory circuits are initially constructed via mechanisms that are independent of sensory experience, but later refinement requires experience. We constructed models of how circuits that receive biased feedforward inputs can be initially unselective and then be modified by experience and plasticity so that the resulting circuit exhibits increased selectivity. We propose that neighboring cortical columns may initially exhibit coupling that is too strong for selectivity. Experience-dependent mechanisms decrease this coupling so individual columns can exhibit selectivity.