1. The visual cortex processes visual information by detecting correlated features and representing this information sparsely and independently across neural populations. 2. Individual neurons in the visual cortex learn tuning functions that are sensitive to the most informative dimensions of the visual environment, such as orientation, spatial frequency, and color. 3. The brain forms a hierarchical model of visual information, with neurons in early visual areas detecting basic features and neurons in higher areas representing more complex combinations of features.