Dynamic modeling of turtle cortex stimulated by natural input

The visual cortex of a freshwater turtle, when stimulated by a pattern of light, produces waves of activity that have been both recorded experimentally and simulated using a model cortex. In this paper, the goal is to predict the response of the model cortex when the input pattern is a natural source. The basic procedure is to encode both the input and the output signals using a suitable choice of spatial and temporal basis functions. The encoding process generates a vector time series of coefficients (temporal strands) in a suitable lower dimensional beta-space. Finally, a linear system is identified that best fits the input strand to the output strand.