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The Structure of the Neocortex

Difficulty level
Beginner
Speaker

In an overview of the structure of the mammalian neocortex, this lecture explains how the mammalian cortex is organized in a hierarchy, describing the columnar principle and canonical microcircuits.

Topics covered in this lesson
  • Why study the cerebral cortex?
  • Parts of the cortex, gyri, and sulci
  • Cortical layers
  • Functional architecture, columnar structure
  • The basic cortical wiring diagram
  • Pyramidal cells
  • Douglas' and Martin's canonical microcircuit
  • Maps in cortex
  • Ocular dominance stripes
  • Imaging of cortical circuits
  • Computer analogy for studying cortex
  • Concluding Q&A (at 53:27)
Prerequisites

Some basic knowledge of neurons and the visual system, comparable to the two first lectures in this series.

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