2 main types of cell

Pyramidal Cells Long range axons, excitatory
Stellate cells : axon with stellate branching acts inhibitory in immediate environment usually.

"It is commonly believed that Type 1 encode information and type 2 stabilise by inhibiting around excited areas "

Groups of adjacent neurons are also thought to form microcolumns a lOth of a millimeter in diameter .
These are thought to analyse some particular stimulus feature such as edge orientation or enervation of a common muscle.
Separation is not discrete but gradual

6 layers
4 is input
5 is output intra cortical 6 feed back
1-3 output extra cortical

3 groups of cortical areas sensory, associational and motor.

Next we have aggregations of micro-columns into specialised areas. Today about 80 such cortical areas are known each of which could be a specialised module. ( a continuous 2 dimensional feature map)

This model is still limited but we can still test many theories using mathematical models based upon it.

Maps not just wsed for sensory input also abstract features can be coded e.g. edge orientation, velocity of movement.
Also motor maps, location of peak = movement(in space and time) How to specifiy genetic coding of 10P13 synapses ?
Why not code mechanisms of structure formation as a result of whose operation desired connectivity is attained.