Yes, the field has emerged out of MNIST/ImageNet and that is what those algorithms are optimised for. For modelling actual dynamics different design is necessary. It happens that the design that makes sense also seems to agree very well with the observed biology of the cortex. You can find links to our Predictive Vision Model in this thread as well as a few additional thoughts here: http://blog.piekniewski.info/2016/11/30/learning-physics-is-...