Talk:Ocular dominance column

Is it possible to get an image here? (If there's a copyright issue, could we just take one from one of the seminal papers and call it a fair use short extract?)

Actually, I guess anybody could easily create an image of the basic patterning effect, since there are simple computer algorithms to simulate it. (In fact the article ought mention that one avenue of research, in figuring out how the visual cortex wires itself up, is to test for reproduction of this presumed epiphenomenon.) But it would be much more useful to have a photo of the real deal (for example, showing features such as the blind spot, and as the shape, extent and scale of the entire pattern, and how the properties of the pattern vary in different areas). Cesiumfrog (talk) 02:24, 19 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Ah, great to see students being assigned to such good use, thanks! Now, I think it would also be helpful if there were more information about how the patterns are imaged, and the history of the field. I understand that in the 60s, probing live cat brains for electrical activity, they first noticed and mapped the eye-specificity of individual neurons. Also, staining (what stain?) for recent activity in brains of the deceased and formerly blind in one eye. Also, subtracting images of the live brain whilst either eye is shuttered (I assume this is done with ordinary cameras rather than fmri? is anything special used to make the blood flow show up better?). I guess the other seminal piece of history would be the model that permits simulation and explains how the neuron wiring forms. Cesiumfrog (talk) 23:05, 21 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks. There are myriad algorithms for simulating the growth of columns, most of which seem to do a pretty good job of reproducing the qualitative look of the things. Unfortunately, this also means it's hard to tell which is correct. Anyway, I used the Gray-Scott equations simply because they are particularly easy to code in Matlab. I have had much less success reproducing the work in http://cns.qbi.uq.edu.au/pub/carreira05.pdf. I am attempting to hand draw and ODC vs. OR vs. CX map since I can't get acceptable simulation results. Many techniques are used for imaging the columns, including optical imaging of the brain surface, autoradiographic imaging(this has some issues), and stains for various markers. I have seen some work with FMRI, but I've also seen some work questioning it's accuracy due to low resolution. In the old days, they were measured by microelectrode penetrations. I'll add a section on all of this to the article when I figure out how to incorporate it nicely. For now I need to produce something nice enough to grade before midnight GMT :P.--Paul C. Foster (talk) 06:13, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

The current picture is fishy... The blue area has many dead ends and small isolated areas, while the white area is well connected. 140.247.0.15 (talk) 16:42, 17 December 2012 (UTC)

New caretaker
For the reasons outlined in my userpage, I am retiring my current Wikipedia account. I'll still be around, and can help anyone wanting to add to or edit this article, but I won't be using this name anymore and won't be tied to just this article.

I rewrote this article a few months ago and would like to suggest that someone else knowledgeable take over editing or maintaining it, possibly one of the experts who have worked ODCs? Due to the complexity of the subject, I worry that no one will edit much if there isn't someone who takes this article on as their personal project, despite the fact that ODCs are mentioned in any introductory neuroscience text.

I would like to mention ahead of time that writing on your own subject can be a problem for NPOV stuff (e.g. the current Scholarpedia article is very slanted), but it can be done if you simply think about "What would the general public want to know?", and "Are all major viewpoints mentioned for someone to do further research?" I have attempted to keep this article to a level where an interested high school student could understand it, but also keep reference to more advanced ideas where possible, except where I couldn't understand the literature well enough to comment intelligently.

I would suggest that this article could benefit from a general purpose timeline image showing the relation of ODC formation and plasticity to other developmental milestones. I have been unable to find a coherent timeline in the current literature. There were some in the Crowley and Katz papers, but they are out of date and represent the subject from viewpoint that, while still held by many, no longer appears to be the majority view. Perhaps the work from current literature could be compiled into a new timeline of similar style. Please cite sources if you make a compilation! And avoid accidentally creating original research through synthesis.

Finally be bold! While interviews are not suitable for using in the actual article, I have interviewed several experts, and they all agree that this is a field that is likely to revive in the next few years due to recent advances in neuroscience. Most of these people would have liked to edit this article but were worried about messing it up. Don't be! Issues will get fixed by longstanding editors, but we need your content and comments since we can't be fully up to date experts on every article we edit.

Thanks, it's been fun. --Paul C. Foster (talk) 16:27, 26 February 2012 (UTC)