Zur Informationsverarbeitung im visuellen System der Wirbeltiere. I

In this paper it is tried to find a mathematical model for a number of mainly electrophysiological results concerning pattern recognition of mammals. The interpretations are essentially based on the experiments of Hubel and Wiesel in the visual system of the cat and the monkey.

After a short introduction to the applied theory of linear nervous nets the investigations in the retina are interpreted. This part of the visual system can be considered as a bandpass-filter for space dependent oscillations. At the level of the geniculate body, a further filtering takes place which especially attenuates the low and the very high frequencies.

The processes in the cortex regions 17, 18 and 19, where the further preprocessing of the pattern recognition takes place, can be interpreted by the theory of matched filters. In Area 17 the input pattern is reduced to the contour lines. In the two other areas the extraction of simple characteristic features such as line ends and corners takes place. By means of the present results it is not possible to draw complete conclusions on the structure of the recognition process.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Institut für Schwingungsforschung der Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, Karlsruhe

   WeRner von Seelen

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