whisker maps in rodent barrel cortex) are tuned to different stimulus features—and inhibition in one cortical subregion can be influenced by neighboring domains. While the necessary circuits for such lateral inhibitory interactions exist in cortex (Adesnik and Scanziani, 2010), determining their exact spatial extent and impact on sensory processing will require more work. Furthermore, in the visual, auditory, and olfactory cortices of rodents, stimulus selective responses occur despite the fact that cells tuned to particular stimulus features are spatially intermingled in a “salt and pepper” organization (Ohki et al., 2005; Rothschild et al., 2010; Stettler and Axel, 2009).
