Beyond the classical receptive field: The effect of contextual stimuli

A fundamental feature of neural circuitry in the primary visual cortex (V1) is the existence of recurrent excitatory connections between spiny neurons, recurrent inhibitory connections between smooth neurons, and local connections between excitatory and inhibitory neurons. We modeled the dynamic behavior of intermixed excitatory and inhibitory populations of cells in V1 that receive input from the classical receptive field (the receptive field center) through feedforward thalamocortical afferents, as well as input from outside the classical receptive field (the receptive field surround) via long-range intracortical connections. A counterintuitive result is that the response of oriented cells can be facilitated beyond optimal levels when the surround stimulus is cross-oriented with respect to the center and suppressed when the surround stimulus is iso-oriented. This effect is primarily due to changes in recurrent inhibition within a local circuit. Cross-oriented surround stimulation leads to a reduction of presynaptic inhibition and a supraoptimal response, whereas iso-oriented surround stimulation has the opposite effect. This mechanism is used to explain the orientation and contrast dependence of contextual interactions in primary visual cortex: responses to a center stimulus can be both strongly suppressed and supraoptimally facilitated as a function of surround orientation, and these effects diminish as stimulus contrast decreases.

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Contrast-Dependent Variations in the Excitatory Classical Receptive Field and Suppressive Nonclassical Receptive Field of Cat Primary Visual Cortex

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhs012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 283-292 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

K. Chen ◽

X.-M. Song ◽

C.-Y. Li

Keyword(s):

Visual Cortex ◽

Receptive Field ◽

Primary Visual Cortex ◽

Classical Receptive Field

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Author response: Distinct spatiotemporal mechanisms underlie extra-classical receptive field modulation in macaque V1 microcircuits

10.7554/elife.54264.sa2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Christopher A Henry ◽

Mehrdad Jazayeri ◽

Robert M Shapley ◽

Michael J Hawken

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Author Response ◽

Classical Receptive Field ◽

Field Modulation

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Attention operates uniformly throughout the classical receptive field and the surround

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.17256 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Bram-Ernst Verhoef ◽

John HR Maunsell

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Cortical Neurons ◽

Receptive Fields ◽

Spatial Summation ◽

Field Structure ◽

Neuronal Responses ◽

Large Variability ◽

Area V4 ◽

Classical Receptive Field ◽

Spatially Varying

Shifting attention among visual stimuli at different locations modulates neuronal responses in heterogeneous ways, depending on where those stimuli lie within the receptive fields of neurons. Yet how attention interacts with the receptive-field structure of cortical neurons remains unclear. We measured neuronal responses in area V4 while monkeys shifted their attention among stimuli placed in different locations within and around neuronal receptive fields. We found that attention interacts uniformly with the spatially-varying excitation and suppression associated with the receptive field. This interaction explained the large variability in attention modulation across neurons, and a non-additive relationship among stimulus selectivity, stimulus-induced suppression and attention modulation that has not been previously described. A spatially-tuned normalization model precisely accounted for all observed attention modulations and for the spatial summation properties of neurons. These results provide a unified account of spatial summation and attention-related modulation across both the classical receptive field and the surround.

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Suppressive signals from within and beyond the classical receptive field of macaque V1 neurons

Journal of Vision ◽

10.1167/14.15.72 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 14 (15) ◽

pp. 72-72

Author(s):

L. E. Hallum ◽

J. A. Movshon

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

V1 Neurons ◽

Classical Receptive Field

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Guest Editorial: Colour in a Larger Perspective: The Rebirth of Gestalt Psychology

Perception ◽

10.1068/p261341 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 26 (11) ◽

pp. 1341-1352 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Lothar Spillmann

Keyword(s):

Visual Perception ◽

Receptive Field ◽

Single Unit ◽

Guest Editorial ◽

Gestalt Psychology ◽

Future Developments ◽

The Past ◽

Classical Receptive Field ◽

Neuronal Mechanisms ◽

Single Unit Recordings

This overview takes the reader from the classical contrast and assimilation studies of the past to today's colour research, in a broad sense, with its renewed emphasis on the phenomenological qualities of visual perception. It shows how the shift in paradigm from local to global effects in single-unit recordings prompted a reappraisal of appearance in visual experiments, not just in colour, but in the perception of motion, texture, and depth as well. Gestalt ideas placed in the context of modern concepts are shown to inspire psychophysicists, neurophysiologists, and computational vision scientists alike. Feedforward, horizontal interactions, and feedback are discussed as potential neuronal mechanisms to account for phenomena such as uniform surfaces, filling-in, and grouping arising from processes beyond the classical receptive field. A look forward towards future developments in the field of figure–ground segregation (Gestalt formation) concludes the article.

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Direction- and Velocity-Specific Responses from beyond the Classical Receptive Field in the Middle Temporal Visual Area (MT)

Perception ◽

10.1068/p140105 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 105-126 ◽

Cited By ~ 435

Author(s):

John Allman ◽

Francis Miezin ◽

EveLynn McGuinness

Keyword(s):

Receptive Field ◽

Visual Area ◽

Area Mt ◽

Motion Cues ◽

Middle Temporal ◽

Global Context ◽

Mt Neurons ◽

Classical Receptive Field ◽

Local Stimulus ◽

Visual Area Mt

The true receptive field of more than 90% of neurons in the middle temporal visual area (MT) extends well beyond the classical receptive field (crf), as mapped with conventional bar or spot stimuli, and includes a surrounding region that is 50 to 100 times the area of the crf. These extensive surrounds are demonstrated by simultaneously stimulating the crf and the surround with moving stimuli. The surrounds commonly have directional and velocity-selective influences that are antagonistic to the response from the crf. The crfs of MT neurons are organized in a topographic representation of the visual field. Thus MT neurons are embedded in an orderly visuotopic array, but are capable of integrating local stimulus conditions within a global context. The extensive surrounds of MT neurons may be involved in figure–ground discrimination, preattentive vision, perceptual constancies, and depth perception through motion cues.

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