scholarly journals Does laminar position determine the receptive field properties of cortical neurons? A study of corticotectal cells in area 17 of the normal mouse and the reeler mutant

1981 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
V Lemmon ◽  
AL Pearlman
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Normal Mouse ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Receptive Field Properties ◽  
Reeler Mutant

Depth perception and cortical physiology in normal and innate microstrabismic cats

1991 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Distler ◽  
K.-P. Hoffmann
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Depth Perception ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Oblique Effect ◽  
Orientation Tuning ◽  
Maximal Response ◽  
Horizontal Distance ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Receptive Field Properties ◽  
Stimulation Of

AbstractEvidence is presented that innate microstrabismus and abnormal cortical visual receptive-field properties can occur also in cats without any apparent involvement of the Siamese or albino genetic abnormalities in their visual system. A possible cause for microstrabismus in these cats may be sought in an abnormally large horizontal distance between blind spot and area centralis indicated by a temporal displacement of the most central receptive fields on both retinae.Depth perception was found to be impaired in cats with innate microstrabismus. Behavioral measurements using a Y-maze revealed in four such cats that the performance in recognizing the nearer of two random-dot patterns did not improve when they were allowed to use both eyes instead of only one. The ability of microstrabismic cats to perceive depth under binocular viewing conditions only corresponded to the monocular performance of five normal cats.Electrophysiological recordings were performed in the visual cortex (areas 17 and 18) of four awake cats, two normal, and two innate microstrabismic animals. Ocular dominance and orientation tuning of single neurons in area 17 and 18 were analyzed quantitatively.The percentage of neurons in area 17 and 18 which could be activated through either eye was significantly reduced to 49.7% in the microstrabismic animals when compared to the normal cats (74.8%). “True binocular cells,” which can only be activated by simultaneous stimulation of both eyes, were significantly less frequent (1.6%) in microstrabismic cats than in normal animals (10.4%). However, subthreshold binocular interactions were identical in both groups of animals. In the strabismic animals, long-term binocular stimulation of monocular neurons did not give a clear indication of alternating use of one or the other eye.The range of stimulus orientations leading to discharge rates above 50% of the maximal response, i.e. the half-width of the orientation tuning curves, was the same in the two groups of cats. However, orientation sensitivity, i.e. the alternation in discharge rate per degree change in stimulus orientation, was higher in cortical cells of normal cats than in those of microstrabismic cats.In normal and microstrabismic cats, no clear sign of an “oblique effect,” i.e. the preference of cortical neurons for vertical and horizontal orientations compared to oblique orientations, could be found neither in the incidence of cells with horizontal or vertical preferred orientation nor in the sharpness of orientation tuning and sensitivity of these neurons.In summary, the receptive-field properties reported here for awake innate microstrabismic cats are similar to those reported in the literature for anesthetized cats with varying degrees of albinism and for cats with artificial symmetrical strabismus surgically induced by sectioning the equivalent extraocular muscles in both eyes. Our innate microstrabismic cats may provide, however, an animal model for investigating the etiology of one form of naturally occurring strabismus.

Responses of Primate Visual Cortical V4 Neurons to Simultaneously Presented Stimuli

2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 1128-1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Gawne ◽  
Julie M. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Receptive Field ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Clear Relationship ◽  
Substantial Fraction ◽  
Receptive Field Properties ◽  
Direct Support ◽  
V4 Neurons ◽  
Visual Cortical

We report here results from 45 primate V4 visual cortical neurons to the preattentive presentations of seven different patterns located in two separate areas of the same receptive field and to combinations of the patterns in the two locations. For many neurons, we could not determine any clear relationship for the responses to two simultaneous stimuli. However, for a substantial fraction of the neurons we found that the firing rate was well modeled as the maximum firing rate of each stimulus presented separately. It has previously been proposed that taking the maximum of the inputs (“MAX” operator) could be a useful operation for neurons in visual cortex, although there has until now been little direct physiological evidence for this hypothesis. Our results here provide direct support for the hypothesis that the MAX operator plays a significant (although certainly not exclusive) role in generating the receptive field properties of visual cortical neurons.

Receptive field plasticity of area 17 visual cortical neurons of adult rats

2009 ◽  
Vol 199 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 401-410
Author(s):  
Ralph Leonhardt ◽  
Hubert R. Dinse
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Adult Rats ◽  
Visual Cortical

Cat area 17. I. Pattern of thalamic control of cortical layers

1986 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 1062-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Malpeli ◽  
C. Lee ◽  
H. D. Schwark ◽  
T. G. Weyand
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Direction Selectivity ◽  
Orientation Selectivity ◽  
The Other ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Cortical Layers ◽  
Reversible Inactivation ◽  
Receptive Field Properties ◽  
Contralateral Eye ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

Reversible inactivation of individual layers of the cat lateral geniculate and medial interlaminar nuclei was used to investigate the necessary and sufficient inputs for maintaining visually driven activity and receptive field properties in area 17. Neither orientation selectivity nor direction selectivity depends on any individual geniculate layer. We identified two groups of cortical layers on the basis of the pattern of thalamic inputs providing visual driving through the contralateral eye. One group, consisting of layers 4 and 6, has geniculate layer A as its only necessary and sufficient input. The other, consisting of supragranular layers, integrates at least two sufficient thalamic inputs, one of which is layer A. Several major receptive field properties are independently generated in these two groups of layers.

Visual responsiveness and direction selectivity of cells in area 18 during local reversible inactivation of area 17 in cats

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 581-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Casanova ◽  
Y. Michaud ◽  
C. Morin ◽  
P.A. McKinley ◽  
S. Molotchnikoff
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Specific Effect ◽  
Direction Selectivity ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Visual Responses ◽  
Drug Injection ◽  
Area 18 ◽  
Preferred Direction ◽  
Receptive Field Properties ◽  
Number Of Cells

AbstractWe have investigated the effects of inactivation of localized sites in area 17 on the visual responses of cells in visuotopically corresponding regions of area 18. Experiments were performed on adult normal cats. The striate cortex was inactivated by the injection of nanoliters of lidocaine hydrochloride or of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) dissolved in a staining solution. Responses of the simple and complex cells of area 18 to optimally oriented light and dark bars moving in the two directions of motion were recorded before, during, and after the drug injection. Two main effects are described.First, for a substantial number of cells, the drug injection provoked an overall reduction of the cell's visual responses. This nonspecific effect largely predominated in the complex cell family (76% of the units affected). This effect is consistent with the presence of long-range excitatory connections in the visual cortex.Second, the inactivation of area 17 could affect specific receptive-field properties of cells in area 18. The main specific effect was a loss of direction selectivity of a number of cells in area 18, mainly in the simple family (more than 53% of the units affected). The change in direction selectivity comes either from a disinhibitory effect in the nonpreferred direction or from a reduction of response in the preferred direction. It is proposed that the disinhibitory effects were mediated by inhibitory interneurones within area 18. In a very few cases, the change of directional preference was associated with a modification of the cell's response profile.These results showed that the signals from area 17 are necessary to drive a number of units in area 18, and that area 17 can contribute to, or at least modulate, the receptive-field properties of a large number of cells in the parastriate area.

Two visual corticotectal systems in cat

1984 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1226-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ogasawara ◽  
J. G. McHaffie ◽  
B. E. Stein
Keyword(s):  
Receptive Field ◽  
Spatial Summation ◽  
Small Population ◽  
General Level ◽  
Target Cells ◽  
Area 17 ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
Receptive Field Properties ◽  
Cortical Cooling ◽  
Superficial Lamina

By using the method of cortical cooling we were able to deactivate specific regions of cortex and demonstrate that there are two functionally separate visual projections to the superior colliculus (SC): one from area 17-18 and one from posterior regions of the suprasylvian cortex (PSSC). Deactivation of area 17-18 depressed the activity of nearly all of the superficial lamina cells in the SC that were binocular and directionally selective. The receptive-field properties of those cells still capable of responding to visual stimuli were altered significantly so that 1) moving stimuli became poorly effective, while stationary flashed stimuli became relatively more effective; 2) directional selectivity and binocularity were minimized or eliminated; 3) the characteristic spatial summation, inhibition, and suppressive surround of the SC-receptive field were compromised; and 4) the range of effective stimulus velocities was altered. However, deep lamina cells were unaffected by the cooling of area 17-18. Deactivation of the PSSC affected deep lamina SC cells in the same way that the cooling of area 17-18 affected cells in superficial layers. Apparently there are two functional visual corticotectal systems that are largely independent of each other: one from area 17-18 (to superficial SC cells) and one from the PSSC (to deep SC cells). Both are critically important for maintaining the excitability and complex receptive-field properties of their target cells in the SC. The only exception to the complete segregation of their influences was the ability of the PSSC to affect slightly the general level of excitability of some superficial lamina cells. A small population of SC cells receiving a tonic inhibitory corticotectal influence was also located. This influence was apparent as an increase in excitability and receptive-field complexity of cells in superficial layers when area 17-18 was cooled, and of deep lamina cells when the PSSC was cooled. The presence of separate visual corticotectal influences on superficial and deep lamina SC cells is consistent with the distinct identities of these subdivisions of the SC and their different functional roles.

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