ABSTRACT
Recently, Edelman and colleagues (Edelman, 1987; Finkel & Edelman, 1989; Sporns, Tononi, & Edelman, 1991, 1994) developed a neural population model of learning and memory in which competition and cooperation between populations of synapses determined the selection and survival of groups of neurons comprising neural networks. Their model primarily concerned the time domain of milliseconds to a few days of neural network interactions. Levay, Stryker, and Shatz (1978) presented a neural population model of ocular dominance column development that was confined to the lateral geniculate cortical projections and a limited time domain. Although these models are excellent in their focus on the short time domain of neural function and development, they do not address the long time domain of postnatal human cerebral development. In fact, there are currently no comprehensive neural population models of the postnatal ontogenesis of cortico-cortical connections that operate over months and years.
