>>11859496It's a difficult question and I'm not sure if I have a definitive answer for you.
Competition between different groups of neurons is quite a fundamental principal in the brain, and it follows from how the neurons are wired together. But we also know that how neurons are wired isn't fixed, this can change over time (it's how we learn new things for example). Neurons change their wiring if they receive different input patterns repeatedly. How that input should look to totally re-shape the response properties is a very difficult question though.
>>11859510It can be due to various things:
-small differences in the initial input: when you're seeing green light but it's not very bright, both groups will try to shout at first, but on the whole, the neurons that like green get just a little bit more input so they excite each other more than the other group can
-bias in the intrinsic properties: neurons are hardly ever totally quiet, and they'll always try to do a little talking, so if one group is more predisposed to do a little talking even without input, it's also more likely to win when input arrives (they have a head start)
-differences in the prevalence of neuron types: if you have more 'green' neurons overall, they'll be more likely to win just because there's more of them. This can be adaptive, because we're for example more likely to see a bird than we are to see a giant purple dragon. So 'bird' neurons are more common, and as a result we're more likely to perceive a bird when we see one
I'll have to get back to work now, but I might find a few minutes later on to check back in. Hope this helps to make things a little more clear, and sorry if some parts are too technical. I tried to explain things simply, but it's kinda difficult.
