Editing Receptive field (section)

===Computational theory of visual receptive fields===

A theoretical explanation of the computational function of visual receptive fields is given in.<ref name=Lin13BICY>[https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00422-013-0569-z T. Lindeberg "A computational theory of visual receptive fields", Biological Cybernetics 107(6): 589-635, 2013]</ref><ref name=Lin21Heliyon>[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e05897 T. Lindeberg "Normative theory of visual receptive fields", Heliyon 7(1):e05897, 2021.]</ref><ref name=Lin23Front>[https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2023.1189949 T. Lindeberg "Covariance properties under natural image transformations for the generalized Gaussian derivative model for visual receptive fields", Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 17:1189949, 2023.]</ref> It is described how idealised models of receptive fields similar to the biological receptive fields<ref>G. C. DeAngelis, I. Ohzawa and R. D. Freeman "Receptive field dynamics in the central visual pathways". Trends Neurosci. 18(10), 451–457, 1995.</ref><ref>G. C. DeAngelis and A. Anzai "A modern view of the classical receptive field: linear and non-linear spatio-temporal processing by V1 neurons. In: Chalupa, L.M., Werner, J.S. (eds.) The Visual Neurosciences, vol. 1, pp. 704–719. MIT Press, Cambridge, 2004.</ref> found in the retina, the LGN and the primary visual cortex can be derived from structural properties of the environment in combination with internal consistency to guarantee consistent representation of image structures over multiple spatial and temporal scales. It is also described how the receptive fields in the primary visual cortex, which are tuned to different sizes, orientations and directions in the image domain, enable the visual system to handle the influence of natural image transformations and to compute invariant image representations at higher levels in the visual hierarchy.

An in-depth theoretical analysis of how the orientation selectivity of simple cells and complex cells in the primary visual cortex relate to inherent properties of visual receptive fields is given in.<ref name=Lin25>[https://doi.org/10.1007/s10827-024-00888-w T. Lindeberg (2025) "Orientation selectivity properties for the affine Gaussian derivative and the affine Gabor models for visual receptive fields", Journal of Computational Neuroscience.]</ref>