Competitive Dynamics in MSTd: A Mechanism for Robust Heading Perception Based on Optic Flow
Fig 12
Plots of the different stages in the competitive dynamics model when simulating self-motion through a static environment (a). (b-e) The response of V1 and MT+ cells were mapped onto a vector field using population vectors. Each vector was created by summing a collection of unit vectors oriented in each unit’s preferred direction and weighted according to the firing rate of units whose receptive fields overlap. (f) The response of heading-selective MSTd cells at the beginning (left) and end (right) of the trial. Competition sharpens the population activity over time, increasing the certainty about the estimated heading direction.