A forward-inverse optics model of reciprocal connections between visual cortical areas

Abstract

We propose that the feedforward connection from the lower visual cortical area to the higher visual cortical area provides an approximated inverse model of the imaging process (optics), while the backprojection connection from the higher area to the lower area provides a forward model of the optics. By mathematical analysis and computer simulation, we show that a small number of relaxation computations circulating this forward-inverse optics hierarchy achieves fast and reliable integration of vision modules, and therefore might resolve the following problems. (i) How are parallel visual modules (multiple visual cortical areas) integrated to allow a coherent scene perception? (ii) How can ill-posed vision problems be solved by the brain within several hundreds of milliseconds?