One interesting problem in systems neuroscience is how the nervous system’s motor output interacts with its sensory systems. Sensory inputs that result from motor commands must be either filtered out or used to guide future motor actions. In other words, the organism must distinguish between sensory inputs that are self-generated and those from the outside world. In the juvenile songbird, for example, motor commands for song generation must be sent to some internal critic (likely basal ganglia) so the bird can compare the actual song output to some internal tutor model and improve subsequent renditions.
How does sensory experience change cortex?
The neocortex is an evolutionarily new part of the brain unique to mammals and is responsible for high level sensation, movement and cognition. It wouldn't be fair to summarize in a sentence or two what cortex "does," but it is clear that it is an important part of the brain. Korbinian Brodmann famously divided the human cortex into about 50 areas based on histology of the six cortical layers in different parts of the brain; Brodmann's areas are still used today because their functions follow their histological structure. While cortical areas have largely stereotyped wiring patterns, some connectivity “motifs” are thought to be area-specific, varying based on the type of input the area receives. It is unknown whether the type of input (i.e. statistics of incoming activity that vary with types of sensory stimuli) to a given cortical area determines the types of connectivity motifs present in that region. And while classical cortical “rewiring”experiments from Mriganka Sur’s lab have shown that primary sensory cortices are somewhat tolerant to process foreign inputs, it is not clear to what extent those circuits constitute basic computational units or if foreign inputs cause reorganization of connections within the circuit.