<s>
A	O
cortical	B-General_Concept
column	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
neurons	O
forming	O
a	O
cylindrical	O
structure	O
through	O
the	O
cerebral	O
cortex	O
of	O
the	O
brain	O
perpendicular	O
to	O
the	O
cortical	O
surface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Columns	O
are	O
also	O
called	O
hypercolumn	O
,	O
macrocolumn	O
,	O
functional	O
column	O
or	O
sometimes	O
cortical	B-General_Concept
module	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
cortical	B-General_Concept
module	I-General_Concept
is	O
defined	O
as	O
either	O
synonymous	O
with	O
a	O
hypercolumn	O
(	O
Mountcastle	O
)	O
or	O
as	O
a	O
tissue	O
block	O
of	O
multiple	O
overlapping	O
hypercolumns	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cortical	B-General_Concept
columns	I-General_Concept
are	O
proposed	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
canonical	O
microcircuits	O
for	O
predictive	O
coding	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
cognition	O
is	O
implemented	O
through	O
a	O
hierarchy	O
of	O
identical	O
microcircuits	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
columnar	B-General_Concept
hypothesis	I-General_Concept
states	O
that	O
the	O
cortex	O
is	O
composed	O
of	O
discrete	O
,	O
modular	O
columns	O
of	O
neurons	O
,	O
characterized	O
by	O
a	O
consistent	O
connectivity	O
profile	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
discoveries	O
that	O
resulted	O
in	O
them	O
winning	O
the	O
1981	O
Nobel	O
Prize	O
was	O
that	O
there	O
were	O
cortical	B-General_Concept
columns	I-General_Concept
in	O
vision	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
the	O
neighboring	O
columns	O
were	O
also	O
related	O
in	O
function	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
the	O
orientation	O
of	O
lines	O
that	O
evoked	O
the	O
maximal	O
discharge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
50	O
to	O
100	O
cortical	O
minicolumns	O
per	O
cortical	B-General_Concept
column	I-General_Concept
a	O
human	O
would	O
have	O
2	O
–	O
4	O
million	O
(	O
2×106	O
–	O
4×106	O
)	O
cortical	B-General_Concept
columns	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
