Demonstration Part 2

Each cell inhibits activation of adjacent cells. Inhibition is related to the strength of the activation— more activation means more inhibition . The arrows above represent the amount of inhibition going from one cell to the one next to it. The result is a decrease in the net activation of the cell shown below.

After lateral inhibition, cells with little activation (the black cells) give less inhibition than cells with more activation (the grey cells). Note the cells on the border between the colours. The black cell looks the darkest because it received the MOST inhibition, since it is next to a grey cell and a black cell (as opposed to two black cells). The grey cell on the border looks the lightest because it received the LEAST inhibition, since it is next to a black cell and a grey cell (instead of two grey cells).

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