What makes a neural code convex?

Understand

Neural codes allow the brain to represent, process, and store information about the world.

• Combinatorial codes, comprised of binary patterns of neural activity, encode information via the collective behavior of populations of neurons.
• A code is called convex if its codewords correspond to regions defined by an arrangement of convex open sets in Euclidean space.
• Convex codes have been observed experimentally in many brain areas, including sensory cortices and the hippocampus, where neurons exhibit convex receptive fields.