biostudies-literatureUnknownMulholland HNNEI NIH HHSNIMH NIH HHSDuring development, cortical activity is organized into distributed modular patterns that are a precursor of the mature columnar functional architecture. Theoretically, such structured neural activity can emerge dynamically from local synaptic interactions through a recurrent network with effective local excitation with lateral inhibition (LE/LI) connectivity. Utilizing simultaneous widefield calcium imaging and optogenetics in juvenile ferret cortex prior to eye opening, we directly test several critical predictions of an LE/LI mechanism. We show that cortical networks transform uniform stimulations into diverse modular patterns exhibiting a characteristic spatial wavelength. Moreover, patterned optogenetic stimulation matching this wavelength selectively biases evoked activity patterns, bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2024.03.02.583133https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10925298biostudies-literatureSelf-organization of modular activity in immature cortical networks.PMC10925298R01 EY030893F32 MH115688Smith GBMulholland HNKaschube MfalseSelf-organization of modular activity in immature cortical networks.During development, cortical activity is organized into distributed modular patterns that are a precursor of the mature columnar functional architecture. Theoretically, such structured neural activity can emerge dynamically from local synaptic interactions through a recurrent network with effective local excitation with lateral inhibition (LE/LI) connectivity. Utilizing simultaneous widefield calcium imaging and optogenetics in juvenile ferret cortex prior to eye opening, we directly test several critical predictions of an LE/LI mechanism. We show that cortical networks transform uniform stimulations into diverse modular patterns exhibiting a characteristic spatial wavelength. Moreover, patterned optogenetic stimulation matching this wavelength selectively biases evoked activity patterns, 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Mar2025-04-05T13:58:09.712Z2025-04-05T13:58:09.712ZS-EPMC109252983846413010.1101/2024.03.02.583133