Harmonic basis functions for spatial coding in the cat striate cortex

1989 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. D. Glezer ◽  
V. V. Yakovlev ◽  
V. E. Gauzelman
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Weighting Function ◽  
Discrete Distribution ◽  
Basis Functions ◽  
Spatial Coding ◽  
Central Visual Field ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Number Of Cycles

AbstractThe number of subregions in the activity profiles of simple cells varies in different cells from 2–8; that is, the number of cycles in the weighting function varies from 1–4. The distribution of receptive-field (RF) sizes at eccentricities of 0-6 deg are clustered at half-octave intervals and form a discrete distribution with maxima at 0.62, 0.9, 1.24, 1.8, 2.48, and 3.4 deg. The spatial frequencies to which the cells are tuned are also clustered at half-octave intervals, forming a discrete distribution peaking at 0.45, 0.69, 0.9, 1.35, 1.88, 2.7, 3.8, and 5.6 cycles/deg. If we divide the RF sizes by the size of the period of the subregions, then the average indices of complexity (really existing) or the number of cycles in the weighting function form (after normalization) the sequences: 1, 1.41, 2.0, 2.9, 4.15.The relation between the bandwidth of the spatial-frequency characteristic and the optimal spatial frequency is in accordance with predictions of the Fourier hypothesis. The absolute bandwidth does not change with the number of cycles/module. This means that inside the module the absolute bandwidth does not change with the number of the harmonic. The results allow us to suggest the following. A module of the striate cortex, which is a group of cells with RFs of equal size projected onto the same area of central visual field, accounts for the Fourier description of the image. The basis functions of the module are composed of four harmonics only, irrespective of size and position of the module.Besides linear cells (sinusoidal and cosinusoidal elements), the module contains nonlinear cells, performing a nonlinear summation of the responses of sinusoidal and cosinusoidal elements. Such cells are characterized by an index of complexity which is more than the number of cycles in the weighting function and by marked overlap of ON and OFF zones. The analysis of organization suggests that the cells can measure the amplitude and phase of the stimulus.

scholarly journals Neuronal basis of perceptual learning in striate cortex

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhen Ren ◽  
Jiawei Zhou ◽  
Zhimo Yao ◽  
Zhengchun Wang ◽  
Nini Yuan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Perceptual Learning ◽  
Contrast Sensitivity ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
High Spatial Frequency ◽  
Sensitivity Training ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Cortex Area ◽  
Adult Cats

Abstract It is well known that, in humans, contrast sensitivity training at high spatial frequency (SF) not only leads to contrast sensitivity improvement, but also results in an improvement in visual acuity as assessed with gratings (direct effect) or letters (transfer effect). However, the underlying neural mechanisms of this high spatial frequency training improvement remain to be elucidated. In the present study, we examined four properties of neurons in primary visual cortex (area 17) of adult cats that exhibited significantly improved acuity after contrast sensitivity training with a high spatial frequency grating and those of untrained control cats. We found no difference in neuronal contrast sensitivity or tuning width (Width) between the trained and untrained cats. However, the trained cats showed a displacement of the cells’ optimal spatial frequency (OSF) to higher spatial frequencies as well as a larger neuronal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Furthermore, both the neuronal differences in OSF and SNR were significantly correlated with the improvement of acuity measured behaviorally. These results suggest that striate neurons might mediate the perceptual learning-induced improvement for high spatial frequency stimuli by an alteration in their spatial frequency representation and by an increased SNR.

Role of suppression in shaping orientation and direction selectivity of complex neurons in cat striate cortex

1996 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 1163-1176 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Hammond ◽  
J. N. Kim
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Cutoff Frequency ◽  
Direction Selectivity ◽  
Uniform Field ◽  
Directional Tuning ◽  
Tuning Curves ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Dominant Eye ◽  
Cat Striate Cortex

1. Single binocularly driven complex neurons in cat striate cortex were recorded extracellularly under nitrous oxide-oxygen-halothane anesthesia and muscle relaxant. Orientational/directional tuning was initially derived for each eye in turn, with sine wave gratings of optimal spatial frequency and velocity, while the other eye viewed a uniform field. 2. For the dominant eye, previously concealed suppression was revealed against elevated levels of firing induced with a conditioning grating, drifting continuously in the preferred direction, simultaneously presented to the nondominant eye. During steady-state binocular conditioning, orientational/directional tuning was reestablished for the dominant eye. In a subset of cells, tuning curves during conditioning were also derived for the reverse configuration, i.e., nondominant eye tuning, dominant eye conditioning: results were qualitatively identical to those for conditioning through the nondominant eye. 3. Neurons were initially segregated into five groups, according to the observed suppression profiles induced at nonoptimal orientations/directions during conditioning: Type 1, suppression centered on orthogonal directions; Type 2, suppression around null directions; Type 3, null suppression combined with orthogonal suppression; Type 4, lateral suppression, maximal for directions immediately flanking those inducing excitation; and Type 5, the residue of cells, totally lacking suppression or showing complex or variable suppression. 4. Sharpness of (excitatory) tuning was correlated with directionality and with class of suppression revealed during binocular conditioning. Direction-biased neurons were more sharply orientation tuned than direction-selective neurons; similarly, neurons exhibiting lateral or orthogonal suppression during conditioning were more sharply tuned than neurons with null suppression. 5. Application of suboptimal directions of conditioning weakened the induced suppression but altered none of its main characteristics. 6. The relationship between excitation, suppression, and spatial frequency was investigated by comparing tuning curves for the dominant eye at several spatial frequencies, without and during conditioning. End-stopped neurons preferred lower spatial frequencies and higher velocities of motion than non-end-stopped neurons. Confirming previous reports, suppression in some neurons was still present for spatial frequencies above the cutoff frequency for excitation, demonstrating the tendency for suppression to be more broadly spatial frequency tuned than excitation. 7. Scatterplots of strength of suppression, in directions orthogonal and opposite maximal excitation, partially segregated neurons of Types 1-3. Clearer segregation of Types 1-4 was obtained by curve-fitting to profiles of suppression, and correlating half-width of tuning for suppression with the angle between the directions of optimal suppression and optimal excitation in each neuron. 8. Two interpretations are advanced-the first, based on three discrete classes of inhibition, orthogonal, null and lateral; the second, based on only two classes, orthogonal and null/lateral--in which null and lateral suppression are manifestations of the same inhibitory mechanism operating, respectively, on broadly tuned direction-selective or on sharply tuned direction-biased neurons. Orthogonal suppression may be untuned for direction, whereas lateral and null suppression are broadly direction tuned. Within each class, suppression is more broadly spatial frequency tuned than excitation. 9. It is concluded that orientational/directional selectivity of complex cells at different spatial frequencies is determined by the balance between tuned excitation and varying combinations of relatively broadly distributed or untuned inhibition.

Length and width tuning of neurons in the cat's primary visual cortex

1994 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. C. DeAngelis ◽  
R. D. Freeman ◽  
I. Ohzawa
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Variable Parameter ◽  
Visual Space ◽  
Similar Degree ◽  
Tuning Curves ◽  
Number Of Cycles

1. The classically defined receptive field of a visual neuron is the area of visual space over which the cell responds to visual stimuli. It is well established, however, that the discharge produced by an optimal stimulus can be modulated by the presence of additional stimuli that by themselves do not produce any response. This study examines inhibitory influences that originate from areas located outside of the classical (i.e., excitatory) receptive field. Previous work has shown that for some cells the response to a properly oriented bar of light becomes attenuated when the bar extends beyond the receptive field, a phenomenon known as end-inhibition (or length tuning). Analogously, it has been shown that increasing the number of cycles of a drifting grating stimulus may also inhibit the firing of some cells, an effect known as side-inhibition (or width tuning). Very little information is available, however, about the relationship between end- and side-inhibition. We have examined the spatial organization and tuning characteristics of these inhibitory effects by recording extracellularly from single neurons in the cat's striate cortex (Area 17). 2. For each cortical neuron, length and width tuning curves were obtained with the use of rectangular patches of drifting sinusoidal gratings that have variable length and width. Results from 82 cells show that the strengths of end- and side-inhibition tend to be correlated. Most cells that exhibit clear end-inhibition also show a similar degree of side-inhibition. For these cells, the excitatory receptive field is surrounded on all sides by inhibitory zones. Some cells exhibit only end- or side-inhibition, but not both. Data for 28 binocular cells show that length and width tuning curves for the dominant and nondominant eyes tend to be closely matched. 3. We also measured tuning characteristics of end- and side-inhibition. To obtain these data, the excitatory receptive field was stimulated with a grating patch having optimal orientation, spatial frequency, and size, whereas the end- or side-inhibitory regions were stimulated with patches of gratings that had a variable parameter (such as orientation). Results show that end- and side-inhibition tend to be strongest at the orientation and spatial frequency that yield maximal excitation. However, orientation and spatial frequency tuning curves for inhibition are considerably broader than those for excitation, suggesting that inhibition is mediated by a pool of neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Spatial Extent of Masking by Sine-Wave Gratings

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 74-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
V V Babenko
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Threshold Level ◽  
Sine Wave ◽  
Spatial Extent ◽  
Contrast Threshold ◽  
Backward Masking ◽  
Distributed Information ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Number Of Cycles

The contrast threshold for detection of a target consisting of 1.5 periods of a sine wave was determined as a function of the number of cycles in a sinusoidal mask with the same spatial frequency and orientation. The test frequencies were 2, 4, and 8 cycles deg−1. The masks were spatial-frequency modulated so as to equate their spectral extent. Stimuli were seen monocularly in Maxwellian view at a mean luminance of 10 cd m−2. The contrast threshold in a backward masking paradigm was determined by a 2AFC staircase. Data were obtained from three subjects with normal vision. It was found that as the number of cycles in the mask was increased, the contrast threshold fell, but only to a certain level. The full range of the threshold decrement was about 2 dB. At all the spatial frequencies tested, the final threshold level was reached with 3 cycles in the mask and then remained unaffected by a further increase in the number of cycles. The results implicate frequency-tuned mechanisms of very restricted spatial extent. It is suggested that these may underlie processing of spatially distributed information at the post-striate stages.

Extrageniculostriate vision in the monkey. VII. Contrast sensitivity functions

1980 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1510-1526 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Miller ◽  
P. Pasik ◽  
T. Pasik
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Contrast Sensitivity ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Pattern Discrimination ◽  
Sensitivity Threshold ◽  
Sinusoidal Grating ◽  
Frequency Detection ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Method Of Constant Stimuli

1. Psychophysical and electrophysiological experiments have indicated the importance of spatial frequency components and their respective contrasts and orientations for the recognition of patterns. It is in the striate cortex where these types of information first converge, a fact that lends support to the accepted crucial role of this structure in pattern discrimination. 2. Monkeys with total bilateral ablation of the striate cortex, however, retain a residual capacity for pattern discrimination and also can differentiate between a vertical and an oblique luminous bar. The present study explores their capacity for spatial frequency detection both as a function of contrast and, by extrapolation, at maximum contrast (visual acuity measure). 3. Monkeys were presented with a forced choice between a homogeneous target and a vertically oriented sinusoidal grating in a pulling-in apparatus. Stimuli were produced by the transillumination of transparencies at spatial frequencies of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 8.0, 16, and 32 cycles/deg, in 0.1-log unit steps of contrast from 0.79 to 0.006. The stimuli subtended 8 degrees of visual angle and were matched for mean luminance at 20 cd/m2. After mastering the discrimination of one spatial frequency at the highest contrast, contrast thresholds were first estimated by a staircase technique, and then determined by the method of constant stimuli. The procedure was repeated for each spatial frequency before and after histologically verified total bilateral removal of striate cortex and partial damage to circumstriate cortices. 4. Discrimination at all spatial frequencies was mastered by all normal monkeys. Postoperatively, they could solve only problems with frequencies between 0.5 and 4.0 cycles/deg. 5. Contrast sensitivity (threshold-1) functions for normal and destriated monkeys have the characteristic inverted J shape. The high- and low-frequency limbs are related exponentially to spatial frequency, and the peak of the curve is about 2.0 cycles/deg. The dimensions of the functions, however, change significantly following the ablation. Sensitivity is depressed at all spatial frequencies. The mean “visuogram” indicates a 26-dB flat loss. 6. The mean high-frequency cutoff point is 43 cycle/deg preoperatively and 12 cycles/deg postoperatively, equivalent to 0.7' and 2.5' of arc, respectively. The latter value is not worse than 20/80 on the Snellen chart. 7. The variability of the response at each spatial frequency in the staircase method and the slope of the psychometric function derived from the method of constant stimuli provide a measure of “instability” and “precision,” respectively, which are inversely related. Preoperatively, precision is significantly greater at high than at low spatial frequencies. Postoperatively, it is similar at all frequencies, and the values are lower than those determined preoperatively. 8. The results demonstrate that destriated monkeys can detect gratings, although to a lesser degree than normal animals…

Organisation and Interrelationships of Functional Maps in Cat and Monkey Striate Cortex

Perception ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 356-356
Author(s):  
D Shoham ◽  
M Hübener ◽  
T Bonhoeffer ◽  
A Grinvald
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Cytochrome Oxidase ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Ocular Dominance ◽  
High Spatial Frequency ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Frequency Domains

Optical imaging of intrinsic signals allows mapping of the cortical functional architecture in vivo at high spatial resolution. The ability to image activity patterns evoked by many different stimuli in the same piece of cortex can provide information on the spatial relationships between different functional maps. Our findings on the organisation of multiple functional maps in cat and monkey striate cortex are reviewed. The main focus is on the recent finding in cat of two subsystems differing in their response to spatiotemporal aspects of the stimulus. We used grating stimuli of different spatial frequencies in an attempt to verify the existence of spatial frequency columns in cat area 17. Rather than observing a map of continuously changing spatial frequency across the cortical surface we found two distinct sets of domains, one preferring low and one preferring high spatial frequencies. By using different drift velocities we also found that the low-spatial-frequency domains preferred higher speeds than the high-spatial-frequency domains. Comparison of these spatiotemporal frequency domains with the cytochrome oxidase staining pattern revealed that the cytochrome oxidase blobs in cat striate cortex coincide with domains devoted to the processing of the low-spatial-frequency and high-temporal-frequency contents of the visual scene. Together with recent anatomical results these data suggest that spatiotemporal frequency domains are the manifestation of parallel streams in cat visual cortex with distinct patterns of thalamic inputs and extrastriate projections. In the same experiments we also imaged the orientation preference and ocular dominance maps. We investigated the relationships between these three columnar systems, and compared them to an earlier study of orientation, ocular dominance, and blobs in macaque striate cortex. We found systematic relationships between the three systems. While some of these relationships were much weaker than those found in monkey, the organisational principles are similar.

Behavioral determination of the spatial selectivity of contrast adaptation in cats: Some evidence for a common plan in the mammmlian visual system

1990 ◽  
Vol 4 (05) ◽  
pp. 413-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Berkley
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Contrast Sensitivity ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Spatial Vision ◽  
Adaptation Effect ◽  
Test Grating ◽  
Contrast Adaptation ◽  
Visual Systems ◽  
Spatial Frequencies

AbstractAn aftereffects paradigm was used to behaviorally measure contrast sensitivity of cats to gratings of three different test spatial frequencies after adaptation to gratings of various spatial frequencies, contrasts, and durations. Post-adaptation reductions in sensitivity occurred even after short periods of adaptation (<7 s) and could be as large as 1.0 log unit under some conditions. The magnitude of the adaptation effect varied monotonically with (1) adaptation grating contrast, (2) duration, and (3) the contrast sensitivity for the test grating. Average half-width (at half-height) of the spatial-frequency tuning curves constructed from the data was 1.4 octaves, and was not dependent upon the level of adaptation or the spatial frequency of the test grating. Post-adaptation psychometric functions of the cats showed reduced slopes and maxima suggesting that, unlike humans, in cats apparent contrast grows more slowly with increases in physical contrast after contrast adaptation. All of the characteristics observed are in excellent agreement with electrophysiologically measured properties of neurons in striate cortex of cats. In addition, there was a remarkable similarity of the cat tuning functions, both in shape and bandpass, to those measured in man with a similar paradigm suggesting that (1) the two visual systems are sufficiently similar to make the cat a useful spatial vision model and (2) there is a common functional plan to all mammalian visual systems despite significant anatomical differences between species.

scholarly journals Numerical Simulation on Spatial-Frequency Domain Imaging for Estimating Optical Absorption and Scattering Properties of Two-Layered Horticultural Products

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 617
Author(s):  
Dong Hu ◽  
Yuping Huang ◽  
Qiang Zhang ◽  
Lijian Yao ◽  
Zidong Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Optical Property ◽  
Optical Absorption ◽  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Estimation Accuracy ◽  
Property Estimation ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Stepwise Method ◽  
Horticultural Products ◽  
Layered Samples

Spatial-frequency domain imaging (SFDI) is a wide-field, noncontact, and label-free imaging modality that is currently being explored as a new means for estimating optical absorption and scattering properties of two-layered turbid materials. The accuracy of SFDI for optical property estimation, however, depends on light transfer model and inverse algorithm. This study was therefore aimed at providing theoretical analyses of the diffusion model and inverse algorithm through numerical simulation, so as to evaluate the potential for estimating optical absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of two-layered horticultural products. The effect of varying optical properties on reflectance prediction was first simulated, which indicated that there is good separation in diffuse reflectance over a large range of spatial frequencies for different reduced scattering values in the top layer, whereas there is less separation in diffuse reflectance for different values of absorption in the top layer, and even less separation for optical properties in the bottom layer. To implement the nonlinear least-square method for extracting the optical properties of two-layered samples from Monte Carlo-generated reflectance, five curve fitting strategies with different constrained parameters were conducted and compared. The results confirmed that estimation accuracy improved as fewer variables were to be estimated each time. A stepwise method was thus suggested for estimating optical properties of two-layered samples. Four factors influencing optical property estimation of the top layer, which is the basis for accurately implementing the stepwise method, were investigated by generating absolute error contour maps. Finally, the relationship between light penetration depth and spatial frequency was studied. The results showed that penetration depth decreased with the increased spatial frequency and also optical properties, suggesting that appropriate selection of spatial frequencies for a stepwise method to estimate optical properties from two-layered samples provides potential for estimation accuracy improvement. This work lays a foundation for improving optical property estimation of two-layered horticultural products using SFDI.

The effects of contrast on visual orientation and spatial frequency discrimination: a comparison of single cells and behavior

1987 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 773-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. C. Skottun ◽  
A. Bradley ◽  
G. Sclar ◽  
I. Ohzawa ◽  
R. D. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Striate Cortex ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Frequency Discrimination ◽  
Frequency Selectivity ◽  
Response Amplitude ◽  
Visual Orientation ◽  
Characteristic Analysis ◽  
Response Variance

We have compared the effects of contrast on human psychophysical orientation and spatial frequency discrimination thresholds and on the responses of individual neurons in the cat's striate cortex. Contrast has similar effects on orientation and spatial frequency discrimination: as contrast is increased above detection threshold, orientation and spatial frequency discrimination performance improves but reaches maximum levels at quite low contrasts. Further increases in contrast produce no further improvements in discrimination. We measured the effects of contrast on response amplitude, orientation and spatial frequency selectivity, and response variance of neurons in the cat's striate cortex. Orientation and spatial frequency selectivity vary little with contrast. Also, the ratio of response variance to response mean is unaffected by contrast. Although, in many cells, response amplitude increases approximately linearly with log contrast over most of the visible range, some cells show complete or partial saturation of response amplitude at medium contrasts. Therefore, some cells show a clear increase in slope of the orientation and spatial frequency tuning functions with increasing contrast, whereas in others the slopes reach maximum values at medium contrasts. Using receiver operating characteristic analysis, we estimated the minimum orientation and spatial frequency differences that can be signaled reliably as a response change by an individual cell. This analysis shows that, on average, the discrimination of orientation or spatial frequency improves with contrast at low contrasts more than at higher contrasts. Using the optimal stimulus for each cell, we estimated the contrast threshold of 48 neurons. Most cells had contrast thresholds below 5%. Thresholds were only slightly higher for nonoptimal stimuli. Therefore, increasing the contrast of sinusoidal gratings above approximately 10% will not produce large increases in the number of responding cells. The observed effects of contrast on the response characteristics of nonsaturating cortical cells do not appear consistent with the psychophysical results. Cells that reach their maximum response at low-to-medium contrasts may account for the contrast independence of psychophysical orientation and spatial frequency discrimination thresholds at medium and high contrasts.

Spatial-frequency and orientation tuning in psychophysical end-stopping

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 585-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
CONG YU ◽  
DENNIS M. LEVI
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Frequency ◽  
Frequency Tuning ◽  
Spatial Filter ◽  
Orientation Tuning ◽  
Maximal Strength ◽  
Facilitation Effect ◽  
Spatial Filters ◽  
Spatial Frequency Tuning ◽  
Spatial Frequencies ◽  
Wide Range

A psychophysical analog to cortical receptive-field end-stopping has been demonstrated previously in spatial filters tuned to a wide range of spatial frequencies (Yu & Levi, 1997a). The current study investigated tuning characteristics in psychophysical spatial filter end-stopping. When a D6 (the sixth derivative of a Gaussian) target is masked by a center mask (placed in the putative spatial filter center), two end-zone masks (placed in the filter end-zones) reduce thresholds. This “end-stopping” effect (the reduction of masking induced by end-zone masks) was measured at various spatial frequencies and orientations of end-zone masks. End-stopping reached its maximal strength when the spatial frequency and/or orientation of the end-zone masks matched the spatial frequency and/or orientation of the target and center mask, showing spatial-frequency tuning and orientation tuning. The bandwidths of spatial-frequency and orientation tuning functions decreased with increasing target spatial frequency. At larger orientation differences, however, end-zone masks induced a secondary facilitation effect, which was maximal when the spatial frequency of end-zone masks equated the target spatial frequency. This facilitation effect might be related to certain types of contour and texture perception, such as perceptual pop-out.

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