ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes the biological bases and historical background of the network of neurons related by lateral inhibition. It relates the described models to recent efforts in neural network modeling, stressing the properties that are suitable for processing of sensory visual information. The book reports on the application of models of nonlinear lateral inhibition to image processing. It discusses a general framework for electronic, and optoelectronic implementation of nonlinear lateral inhibition. The book also reports the results of actual electronic realization of a prototype model that although very simple, corroborates the theoretical results. It explores the mathematical "connection" by first describing the stability of the network and then using the Volterra-Wiener series expansion to determine its temporal and steady-state spatial behavior.
