Primary visual cortex in higher animals like cats and non-human primates is one of the best characterized cortical areas. Therefore, it serves as a paradigmatic area for understanding visual processing and for understanding cortical computation in general. Here we use computational approaches, which are based on network models of different complexity (rate models vs. spiking models, integrate-and-fire vs. Hodgkin-Huxley models, columnar models vs. map models), in order to characterize the functional organization of visual cortex, to study the dynamics of the cortical network, and to evaluate hypotheses about the mechanisms shaping the response properties of visual cortical neurons. A recent model-based analysis of experimental data provided evidence, that cortical networks may operate in a regime which is close to the transition to self-sustained firing. This finding will serve as one starting point for further investigations.

Acknowledgement: Research was funded by BMBF, DFG, HFSPO, Welcome Trust and the Technische Universität Berlin.