Probabilistic population coding of multiple edge orientation

Niklas Lüdtke, Richard C. Wilson, Edwin R. Hancock

Abstract: We present a probabilistic population coding model of Gabor filter responses. Based on the analytically derived orientation tuning function and a mixture model of the filter responses in the presence of local edge structures with single or multiple orientations, a probability density function of the local orientation at a given point can be extracted through a parameter estimation procedure. This density captures not only angular information at edges, corners or T-junctions but also describes the certainty of the measurement, which can be characterized in terms of the entropy of the individual mixture components. The method is general as it applies the same algorithm and filter bank for different types of intensity features.