Network Self-Organization in the Ontogenesis of the Mammalian Visual System

This chapter discusses the process of network self-organization, which is fundamental to the organization of the brain. The process takes place on several temporal scales: the ontogenetic/learning time scale of hours, days, and years; and probably also the functional time scale of fractions of a second to minutes. Several concepts and tools of network self-organization are introduced here. I start with a discussion of self-organization in general and subsequently demonstrate the essential mechanisms, with the help of examples taken from the ontogenesis of the visual system. Although a particular mathematical formulation has been chosen for this discussion, I do not intend to put it forward as a general basis for network self-organization. A canonical mathematical formulation of self-organization has yet to be developed.

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