Increasing Our Understanding of Biological Models Through Visual and Sonic Representations: a Cortical Case Study

Abstract

In this study, general aspects of the rendering of data are discussed, with applications to visual and auditory representations of neurobiological data. Scientific sim ulations or real-world models frequently lead to large quantities of complex numerical output. The generat ing model is often realized through a set of static and/ or dynamic descriptors. The rendering of this descrip tor set is formally considered in terms of mappings that result in visual, sonic, and other sensorial simula tions. The visual and sonic maps are described for complex data resulting from a simulation of the mam malian cerebral cortex. A computational model of sig nal flow in a vertically organized slab of neural tissue in cat area 17 has been developed. The complexity of the data requires both visual and sonic rendering. In this study, a number of issues concerned with render ing complex descriptor sets are discussed, but the em phasis is on sonic orchestration, termed BioSymphics.™

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