ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews several models of map organization. These models consider only one aspect of the mapping problem, namely, what determines the local organization of the map. This, in turn, implies discussing the basis for three mapping properties: local continuity, size of receptive fields and local magnification factor. K. A. Grajski and M. M. Merzenich have developed a simulation of somatotopic map organization which addresses the problem of the inverse rule. The chapter discusses many of the mapping principles that have been observed in the developmental situation. The five models are evaluated with regard to their ability to account for a range of experimental findings on receptive field plasticity and dynamic map organization in somatosensory cortex. The models of Kohonen and of K. Schulten and H. Ritter, which are analytic in nature, are contrasted with those of L. H. Finkel, G. M. Edelman, and J. C. Pearson, of K. D. Miller and M. P. Stryker, and of K. A. Grajski and M. M. Merzenich, which all feature extensive computer simulations.
