Spatial and temporal response properties of lagged and nonlagged cells in cat lateral geniculate nucleus

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 206-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. B. Saul ◽  
A. L. Humphrey
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Temporal Frequency ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Phase Versus ◽  
Response Properties ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
Lagged Cells ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

1. It has recently been shown that the X- and Y-cell classes in the A-layers of the cat lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) are divisible into lagged and nonlagged types. We have characterized the visual response properties of 153 cells in the A-layers to 1) reveal response features that are relevant to the X/Y and lagged/nonlagged classification schemes, and 2) provide a systematic description of the properties of lagged and nonlagged cells as a basis for understanding mechanisms that affect these two groups. Responses to flashing spots and drifting gratings were measured as the contrast and spatial and temporal modulation were varied. 2. X- and Y-cells were readily distinguished by their spatial tuning. Y-cells had much lower preferred spatial frequencies and spatial resolution than X-cells. Within each functional class (X or Y), however, lagged and nonlagged cells were similar in their spatial response properties. Thus the lagged/nonlagged distinction is not one related to the spatial domain. 3. In the temporal domain X- and Y-cells showed little difference in temporal tuning, whereas lagged and nonlagged cells showed distinctive response properties. The temporal tuning functions of lagged cells were slightly shifted toward lower frequencies with optimal temporal frequencies of lagged X-cells averaging an octave lower than those of nonlagged X-cells. Temporal resolution was much lower in lagged X- and Y-cells than in their nonlagged counterparts. 4. The most dramatic differences between lagged and nonlagged cells appeared in the timing of their responses, as measured by the phase of the response relative to the sinusoidal luminance modulation of a spot centered in the receptive field. Response phase varied approximately linearly with temporal frequency. The slope of the phase versus frequency line is a measure of total integration time, which we refer to as visual latency. Lagged cells has much longer latencies than nonlagged cells. 5. The intercept of the phase versus frequency line is a measure of when in the stimulus cycle the cell responds: we refer to this as the intrinsic or absolute phase of the cell. This measure of response timing not only distinguished lagged and nonlagged cells well but also covaried with the sustained or transient nature of cells' responses to flashed stimuli.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Development of neuronal response properties in the cat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus during monocular deprivation

1983 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 240-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Mangel ◽  
J. R. Wilson ◽  
S. M. Sherman
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Optic Chiasm ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Response Properties ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate

We measured response properties of X- and Y-cells from laminae A and A1 of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of monocularly lid-sutured cats at 8, 12, 16, 24, and 52-60 wk of age. Visual stimuli consisted of small spots of light and vertically oriented sine-wave gratings counterphased at a rate of 2 cycles/s. In cats as young as 8 wk of age, nondeprived and deprived neurons could be clearly identified as X-cells or Y-cells with criteria previously established for adult animals. Nonlinear responses of Y-cells from 8- and 12-wk-old cats were often temporally labile; that is, the amplitude of the nonlinear response of nondeprived and deprived cells increased or decreased suddenly. A similar lability was not noted for the linear response component. This phenomenon rarely occurred in older cats. At 8 wk of age, Y-cell proportions (number of Y-cells/total number of cells) in nondeprived and deprived A-laminae were approximately equal. By 12 wk of age and thereafter, the proportion of Y-cells in deprived laminae was significantly lower than that in nondeprived laminae. At no age was there a systematic difference in response properties (spatial resolution, latency to optic chiasm stimulation, etc.) for Y-cells between deprived and nondeprived laminae. Spatial resolution, defined as the highest spatial frequency to which a cell would respond at a contrast of 0.6, was similar for nondeprived and deprived X-cells until 24 wk of age. In these and older cats, the mean spatial resolution of deprived X-cells was lower than that of nondeprived X-cells. This difference was noted first for lamina A1 at 24 wk of age and later for lamina A at 52-60 wk of age. The average latency of X-cells to optic chiasm stimulation was slightly greater in deprived laminae than in nondeprived laminae. No such difference was seen for Y-cells. Cells with poor and inconsistent responses were encountered infrequently but were observed far more often in deprived laminae than in nondeprived laminae. Lid suture appears to affect the development of geniculate X- and Y-cells in very different ways. Not only is the final pattern of abnormalities quite different between these cell groups, but the developmental dynamics of these abnormalities also differ.

The effect of contrast on the visual response of lagged and nonlagged cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 515-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Hartveit ◽  
P. Heggelund
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Response ◽  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Contrast Gain ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Response Range ◽  
Lagged Cells ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

AbstractThe response vs. contrast characteristics of different cell classes in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) were compared. The luminance of a stationary flashing light spot was varied stepwise while the background luminance was constant. Lagged X cells had lower slope of the response vs. contrast curve (contrast gain), and they reached the midpoint of the response range over which the cells' response varied (dynamic response range) at higher contrasts than nonlagged X cells. These results indicated that nonlagged cells are well suited for detection of small contrasts, whereas lagged cells may discriminate between contrasts over a larger range. The contrast gain and the contrast corresponding to the midpoint of the dynamic response range were similar for X and Y cells. The latency to onset and to half-rise of the visual response decreased with increasing contrast, most pronounced for lagged cells. Even at the highest contrasts, the latency of lagged cells remained longer than for nonlagged cells. For many lagged cells, the latency to half-fall decreased with increasing contrast. It is shown that the differences in the response vs. contrast characteristics between lagged and nonlagged X cells in the cat are similar to the differences between the parvocellular and magnocellular neurones in the monkey.

Action of brain stem reticular afferents on lagged and nonlagged cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus

1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 673-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. L. Humphrey ◽  
A. B. Saul
Keyword(s):  
Brain Stem ◽  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Reticular Formation ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Cell Discharge ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Lagged Cells ◽  
Response Timing ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

1. The A-laminae of the cat lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) contain two distinct groups of relay neurons: lagged and nonlagged cells. The groups differ in the pattern, timing, and amplitude of response to flashing spots. At spot onset, nonlagged cells discharge at short latency with an excitatory transient; in lagged cells this transient is supplanted by an inhibitory dip and a delayed latency to discharge. At spot offset, lagged cell discharge decays more slowly than in nonlagged cells. Here we have investigated the facilitatory influence of the brain stem reticular formation on the response properties of lagged X-cells (XL) and nonlagged X- and Y-cells (XN and YN). We were particularly interested in whether the inhibitory dip and sluggish response of lagged cells could be reversed during brain stem activation and the cells induced to respond like nonlagged cells. The peribrachial region (PB) of the pontine reticular formation was stimulated electrically with the use of 1,100-ms-long pulse trains that were paired with flashing spot stimuli. 2. Stimulation of PB led to an increase in the amplitude of visually evoked discharge in lagged and nonlagged cells. Compared with their response to spot stimulation alone, the average PB-evoked increase in mean discharge rate was greater than 50% in both groups. The mean discharge rate during PB plus spot stimulation was somewhat higher for XN-cells than for YN- and XL-cells, reflecting the relatively higher discharge rate among XN-cells during spot stimulation alone. 3. Two measures of response timing characterize lagged and nonlagged cells: latency to half-maximal discharge at spot onset (half rise) and latency to half-minimal discharge at spot offset (half fall). Among XN- and YN-cells, PB stimulation had no significant effect on these two latencies; among XL-cells, both latencies were reduced by 43 and 35%, respectively, on average. 4. During spot stimulation alone, all lagged cells were distinguishable from all nonlagged cells in having half-rise and half-fall latencies greater than 60 ms. Despite the reduction among XL-cells in these 2 latencies during PB stimulation, all but 2 of the 40 XL-cells maintained laggedlike latencies. The majority (95%) of XL-cells remained unambiguously lagged on these measures during brain stem stimulation. 5. During spot stimulation alone, 30 of 40 XL-cells tested displayed a prominent and often long-lasting inhibitory dip in discharge starting approximately 45 ms after spot onset. During PB stimulation only three cells lost the dip.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Fine structural morphology of identified X- and Y-cells in the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus

1984 ◽  
Vol 221 (1225) ◽  
pp. 411-436 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Synaptic Vesicles ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Branch Points ◽  
Structural Morphology ◽  
Present Sample ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

Four physiologically identified neurons in the A laminae of the cat’s dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus were filled with horseradish peroxidase and studied using the electron microscope. Two were X-cells and two were Y-cells. Each had electrophysiological properties appropriate for its X- or Y-cell class, and each also had an axon that projected into the optic radiation, indicative of a geniculocortical relay cell. Representative samples from about 10% of each neuron’s entire dendritic arbor (proximal and distal) were taken to obtain an estimate of the types and distributions of synapses contacting these arbors. One X-cell had a cytoplasmic laminar body, but there were no other significant cytological differences seen among the neurons. Common to each of the neurons were the following synaptic features: (i) retinal terminals (r. l. p.) were mostly or entirely restricted to proximal dendrites or dendritic appendages (< 100 μm from the soma). These terminals constituted about 15-25% of the synapses on the proximal dendrites, (ii) Terminals with flattened or pleomorphic synaptic vesicles (f. terminals) were predominant on the proximal dendrites (30-55% of the total synapses for that region) and were mainly located near the retinal terminals. A smaller percentage (10-20%) were also distributed onto the distal dendrites, (iii) Small terminals with round synaptic vesicles (r. s. d.), many presumably having a cortical origin, predominated (60-80%) on distal dendrites (> 100 μm), but also formed a large proportion (40-70%) of the synapses on the intermediate (50-150 μm) dendrites. Total synaptic contacts for one X-cell and one Y-cell were estimated at about 4000 and 5000, respectively. The major fine structural differences observed between X- and Y-cells were almost entirely related to the retinal afferents. First, the retinal synapses for X-cells were mostly made on to dendritic appendages (spines, etc.), whereas Y-cells had most of their retinal synapses onto the shafts of primary and proximal secondary dendrites (that is, near branch points). Second, the retinal terminals that contacted X-cell dendrites nearly always formed triadic arrangements that included nearby f. terminals, but those on Y-cells rarely did so. Finally, the main type of f. terminals associated with X-cells were morphologically different from most of those associated with the Y-cells, and this also related directly to the triadic arrangements; that is, f. terminals in the triadic arrangements were morphologically distinguishable from f. terminals that did not participate in triadic arrangements. Even though the present sample is quite small, these morphological differences between X- and Y-cells indicate that they might be the synaptic basis for some of the differential processing of information occurring for the two cell types in the lateral geniculate nucleus.

Properties of relay cells in cat's lateral geniculate nucleus: a comparison of W-cells with X- and Y-cells

1976 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1193-1209 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. D. Wilson ◽  
M. H. Rowe ◽  
J. Stone
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Ganglion Cells ◽  
Reference Sample ◽  
Retinal Ganglion ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
X And Y Cells ◽  
Physiological Properties ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

1. Observations are presented on the physiological properties of W-, X-, and Y-type relay cells in the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). Emphasis is placed on the most recently recognized type, W-cells; data are presented on X- and Y-cells by way of comparison. 2. Seventy-seven W-cells were recognized on 70 microelectrode penetrations through the LGN. They resembled W-type retinal ganglion cells in their responses to visual stimuli. Tonic (on-center and off-center) W-cells, phasic (on-, off- and on-off center) W-cells, suppressed-by-contrast, and color-coded cells were recognized. 3. W-type relay cells also resembled retinal W-cells in their maintained activity and receptive field-center diameters. 4. W-type relay cells comprised 11.5% X-cells 48.4%, and Y-cells 22.3% of all LGN cells encountered on a reference sample of 62 electrode tracks. W-cells were found in laminae C, C1, and C2, comprising 36.5% of the sample in these laminae, but were not encountered in laminae A or A1. X- and Y-cells were found in laminae A, A1, and C. Within lamina C there was a tendency for X- and Y-cells to be located dorsal to W-cells. There was thus a substantial dorsoventral segregation of W-cells from X- and Y-cells. W-cells being found in the ventral parvocellular component of the dorsal LGN. 5. Cells considered to be W-type relay cells were shown to respond to electrical stimulation of the optic nerve and chiasm at latencies which were longer than those of X- and Y-cells, and were consistent with their receiving monosynaptic input from retinal W-cells. Geniculate W-cells of all subtypes were activated antidromically from the visual cortex. Their antidromic latencies were, on the average, longer than for Y- or X-cells, indicating that W-type relay cells had slower axons as well as slower retinal afferents, than X- or Y-cells. 6. The visual cortex thus appears to receive input from all three major types of retinal ganlion cells (W-, X-, and Y-cells) relayed separately, in parallel, by different groups of relay cells.

Brain-stem influence on visual response of lagged and nonlagged cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Hartveit ◽  
P. Heggelund
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Similar Degree ◽  
Visual Response ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Response Properties ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Response Increase ◽  
Lagged Cells

AbstractThis study examined the influence of the pontomesencephalic peribrachial region (PBR) on the visual response properties of cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). The response of single cells to a stationary flashing light spot was recorded with accompanying electrical stimulation of the PBR. The major objectives were to compare the effects of PBR stimulation on lagged and nonlagged cells, to examine how the visual response pattern of lagged cells could be modified by PBR stimulation and to examine whether the physiological criteria used to classify lagged and nonlagged cells are applicable during increased PBR input to the LGN. During PBR stimulation, the visual response was enhanced to a similar degree for lagged and nonlagged cells and the latency to half-rise of the visual response was reduced, particularly for the lagged X cells. The latency to half-fall of the visual response of lagged cells was not changed by PBR stimulation. Accordingly, the division of LGN cells into lagged and nonlagged cells based on visual response latencies was maintained during PBR stimulation. The initial suppression that a visual stimulus evokes in lagged cells was resistant to the effects of PBR stimulation. For the lagged cells, the largest response increase occurred for the initial part of the visual response. For the nonlagged cells, the largest increase occurred for the tonic part of the response. The results support the hypothesis that the differences in temporal response properties between lagged and nonlagged cells belong to the basic distinctions between these cell classes.

Effects of Saccades on the Activity of Neurons in the Cat Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 922-936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daeyeol Lee ◽  
Joseph G. Malpeli
Keyword(s):  
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Dark Condition ◽  
Lateral Geniculate ◽  
Visual Inputs ◽  
Saccade Velocity ◽  
Time Courses ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
X Cells ◽  
Y Cells

Lee, Daeyeol and Joseph G. Malpeli. Effects of saccades on the activity of neurons in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 922–936, 1998. Effects of saccades on individual neurons in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) were examined under two conditions: during spontaneous saccades in the dark and during stimulation by large, uniform flashes delivered at various times during and after rewarded saccades made to small visual targets. In the dark condition, a suppression of activity began 200–300 ms before saccade start, peaked ∼100 ms before saccade start, and smoothly reversed to a facilitation of activity by saccade end. The facilitation peaked 70–130 ms after saccade end and decayed during the next several hundred milliseconds. The latency of the facilitation was related inversely to saccade velocity, reaching a minimum for saccades with peak velocity >70–80°/s. Effects of saccades on visually evoked activity were remarkably similar: a facilitation began at saccade end and peaked 50–100 ms later. When matched for saccade velocity, the time courses and magnitudes of postsaccadic facilitation for activity in the dark and during visual stimulation were identical. The presaccadic suppression observed in the dark condition was similar for X and Y cells, whereas the postsaccadic facilitation was substantially stronger for X cells, both in the dark and for visually evoked responses. This saccade-related regulation of geniculate transmission appears to be independent of the conditions under which the saccade is evoked or the state of retinal input to the LGN. The change in activity from presaccadic suppression to postsaccadic facilitation amounted to an increase in gain of geniculate transmission of ∼30%. This may promote rapid central registration of visual inputs by increasing the temporal contrast between activity evoked by an image near the end of a fixation and that evoked by the image immediately after a saccade.

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