Neural Models of Pattern Formation

Abstract

Perhaps the most obvious, ubiquitous, important and complex spatial patterning processes are those associated with the nervous system such as pattern recognition and the transmission of visual information to the brain. This is a vast field of study. In this chapter we give only an introduction to some of the models, involving nerve cells, which have been proposed as pattern generators. Basic to the concept of neural activity is the nerve cell, or neuron. The neuron consists of a cell body with its dendrites, axon and synapses. It is a bit like a tree with the roots the dendrites, the base the cell body, the trunk the axon and the numerous branches the synapses. The cell receives information, from other cells, through its dendrites, passes messages along the axon to the synapses which in turn pass signals on to the dendrites of other cells. This neuronal process is central to brain functioning. The axons are the connectors and make up the white matter in the brain with the dendrites and synapses making up the grey matter.