Spatial frequency tuning of single units in macaque supragranular striate cortex.

AbstractCat striate cortical neurons were investigated using a new method of studying adaptation aftereffects. Stimuli were sinusoidal gratings of variable contrast, spatial frequency, and drift direction and rate. A series of alternating adapting and test trials was presented while recording from single units. Control trials were completely integrated with the adapted trials in these experiments.Every cortical cell tested showed selective adaptation aftereffects. Adapting at suprathreshold contrasts invariably reduced contrast sensitivity. Significant aftereffects could be observed even when adapting at low contrasts.The spatial-frequency tuning of aftereffects varied from cell to cell. Adapting at a given spatial frequency generally resulted in a broad response reduction at test frequencies above and below the adapting frequency. Many cells lost responses predominantly at frequencies lower than the adapting frequency.The tuning of aftereffects varied with the adapting frequency. In particular, the strongest aftereffects occurred near the adapting frequency. Adapting at frequencies just above the optimum for a cell often altered the spatial-frequency tuning by shifting the peak toward lower frequencies. The fact that the tuning of aftereffects did not simply match the tuning of the cell, but depended on the adapting stimulus, implies that extrinsic mechanisms are involved in adaptation effects.

Download Full-text

Effects of rearing kittens with convergent strabismus on development of receptive-field properties in striate cortex neurons

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1983.50.1.265 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 50 (1) ◽

pp. 265-286 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

Author(s):

Y. M. Chino ◽

M. S. Shansky ◽

W. L. Jankowski ◽

F. A. Banser

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Spatial Frequency ◽

Striate Cortex ◽

Frequency Tuning ◽

Tuning Curves ◽

Spatial Frequency Tuning ◽

Receptive Field Properties ◽

Convergent Strabismus ◽

Striate Neurons ◽

Contrast Thresholds

Convergent strabismus was induced surgically in seven kittens at 3 wk of age. Recordings were made in 131 cells in the striate cortex of these strabismic kittens after maturation, and the results were compared to the data obtained from 140 striate neurons in normally reared cats. All our samples had receptive fields (RFs) within 5 degrees of the area centralis. The spatial and temporal response properties were quantitatively analyzed by using drifting sinusoidal gratings of various contrasts as well as spatial and temporal frequencies. In contrast to other reports, the receptive-field properties of the striate neurons exclusively driven or dominated by the deviating eye were quite abnormal. The spatial frequency tuning curves in strabismic cats were different from those obtained from normals in that the optimal spatial frequencies and spatial resolutions were shifted to lower values and the bandwidths were significantly broader. The contrast-response functions show that contrast thresholds, measured at the optimal spatial frequency, were significantly higher and the slope of the functions much flatter in strabismic animals. Moreover, receptive-field sizes were much larger and the sharpness of orientation tuning was reduced in strabismic cats. Direction selectivity, however, was normal in those animals. The temporal frequency tuning curves were also abnormal, particularly in that temporal resolution was considerably reduced in strabismic cats compared with normally reared cats. In addition, many cells in strabismic animals exhibited much longer latencies to visual and optic chiasm (OX) stimulations. All these effects, to our great surprise, were also observed in the striate units controlled by the nondeviating eye, although the magnitude of the alteration depends on the receptive-field property. The abnormalities found in spatial frequency tuning, contrast thresholds, and RF sizes were as severe as those revealed in the deviating eye. On the other hand, the effects on other RF properties were minimal or less severe. These physiological findings correspond very well with results from behavioral measurements of spatial contrast sensitivity in the same cats reported elsewhere. It is concluded from these results that the nondeviating eye in convergent strabismic animals, and perhaps humans, should not always be presumed "normal."

Download Full-text

Role of intrathalamic inhibition on the spatial frequency tuning of neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat

Neuroscience Research ◽

10.1016/j.neures.2009.09.477 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 65 ◽

pp. S106

Author(s):

Akihiro Kimura ◽

Satoshi Shimegi ◽

Shin-ichiro Hara ◽

Masahiro Okamoto ◽

Hiromichi Sato

Keyword(s):

Spatial Frequency ◽

Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽

Frequency Tuning ◽

Spatial Frequency Tuning ◽

Lateral Geniculate

Download Full-text

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

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.1987.57.3.773 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 57 (3) ◽

pp. 773-786 ◽

Cited By ~ 186

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.

Download Full-text

Spatial-frequency and orientation tuning in psychophysical end-stopping

Visual Neuroscience ◽

10.1017/s0952523898154019 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 585-595 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

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.

Download Full-text

Functional organization of spatial frequency tuning in macaque V1 revealed with two-photon calcium imaging

Progress in Neurobiology ◽

10.1016/j.pneurobio.2021.102120 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 102120

Author(s):

Shu-Chen Guan ◽

Nian-Sheng Ju ◽

Louis Tao ◽

Shi-Ming Tang ◽

Cong Yu

Keyword(s):

Spatial Frequency ◽

Calcium Imaging ◽

Functional Organization ◽

Frequency Tuning ◽

Two Photon ◽

Spatial Frequency Tuning

Download Full-text

Receptive Field Size and Response Latency Are Correlated Within the Cat Visual Thalamus

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00847.2004 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 93 (6) ◽

pp. 3537-3547 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Chong Weng ◽

Chun-I Yeh ◽

Carl R. Stoelzel ◽

Jose-Manuel Alonso

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Spatial Frequency ◽

Response Latency ◽

Time Course ◽

Frequency Tuning ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Cortical Cell ◽

Field Size ◽

Receptive Field Size ◽

Spatial Frequency Tuning

Each point in visual space is encoded at the level of the thalamus by a group of neighboring cells with overlapping receptive fields. Here we show that the receptive fields of these cells differ in size and response latency but not at random. We have found that in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) the receptive field size and response latency of neighboring neurons are significantly correlated: the larger the receptive field, the faster the response to visual stimuli. This correlation is widespread in LGN. It is found in groups of cells belonging to the same type (e.g., Y cells), and of different types (i.e., X and Y), within a specific layer or across different layers. These results indicate that the inputs from the multiple geniculate afferents that converge onto a cortical cell (approximately 30) are likely to arrive in a sequence determined by the receptive field size of the geniculate afferents. Recent studies have shown that the peak of the spatial frequency tuning of a cortical cell shifts toward higher frequencies as the response progresses in time. Our results are consistent with the idea that these shifts in spatial frequency tuning arise from differences in the response time course of the thalamic inputs.

Download Full-text