Abstract:

A survey of the Compendex database showed that about 1/4 of recent SOM papers were published by US first authors. Research in the US is carried out by a very large number of investigators, with relatively few larger SOM research groups. About 70% of the researchers are in academic institutions and 20% in industry. Almost one third of the work focuses on analysis and extensions of the SOM algorithm, and 1/4 on image processing applications. In contrast with SOM research elsewhere, visualization, implementation, and cognitive science and neuroscience are the next largest areas. As an example, research by two of the larger SOM research groups in the US, Illinois and Texas, on biological SOM models is briefly reviewed.