Showing papers on "Receptive field published in 1970"
TL;DR: They reared kittens with one eye viewing vertical stripes, the other horizontal, and found that out of twenty-one neurones with elongated receptive fields all were monocularly driven, and in all but one case the orientation of the receptive field closely matched the pattern experienced by that eye.
Abstract: IN a normal cat, neurones of the visual cortex are selective for the orientation of lines and edges in the visual field, and the preferred orientations of different cells are distributed all around the clock1. Hirsch and Spinelli2 have recently reported that early visual experience can change this organization. They reared kittens with one eye viewing vertical stripes, the other horizontal, and found that out of twenty-one neurones with elongated receptive fields all were monocularly driven, and in all but one case the orientation of the receptive field closely matched the pattern experienced by that eye.
941 citations
TL;DR: Intracellular recordings were made from various types of cells in the isolated goldfish retina, and Procion Yellow was injected from the recording pipette in order to identify histologically the structure recorded.
Abstract: 1. Intracellular recordings were made from various types of cells in the isolated goldfish retina, and Procion Yellow was injected from the recording pipette in order to identify histologically the structure recorded. The dye diffused and stained the cell body and processes down to the fine branches.
2. S-potentials were identified as coming from the external horizontal cells and from the internal horizontal cells. Both L- and C-type S-potentials were found in both regions, and no histological differences were seen in cells giving these two types of responses. S-potentials recorded from the external horizontal cells showed less spatial summation than those recorded from the internal horizontal cells.
3. Bipolar cell responses consisted of sustained potentials associated with an antagonistic centre-surround type receptive field (on-centre, off-surround or vice versa). Spike activity was not observed in bipolar cells.
4. Amacrine cells responded with transient depolarization both at the beginning and at the end of illumination. They sometimes showed spike activity. The amplitude of on- and off-depolarization showed slight dependence on stimulus geometry but a distinct centre-surround organization was not observed.
693 citations
TL;DR: Elongated receptive fields of cells in the visual cortex were horizontally or vertically oriented—no oblique fields were found and units with horizontal fields were activated only by the eye exposed to horizontal lines; units with vertical fieldsonly by the eyes exposed to vertical lines.
Abstract: Cats were raised from birth with one eye viewing horizontal lines and one eye viewing vertical lines. Elongated receptive fields of cells in the visual cortex were horizontally or vertically oriented—no oblique fields were found. Units with horizontal fields were activated only by the eye exposed to horizontal lines; units with vertical fields only by the eye exposed to vertical lines.
570 citations
TL;DR: Histological sections of the retina made after injection of dye through the recording electrode reveal dye in the inner segments of single cones in the retina of the turtle.
Abstract: 1. Intracellular recordings have been made from single photoreceptors in the retina of the turtle. Histological sections of the retina made after injection of dye through the recording electrode reveal dye in the inner segments of single cones.
2. Following a brief flash of light the cone undergoes a hyperpolarization which is graded with the intensity of the flash.
3. The excitatory receptive field of a receptor is probably as small as the cross-section of a single cone, but accurate measurements are rendered difficult by scattering of light within the retina.
4. The voltage drop produced by a current injected into the cell is increased during the response to light. Steady hyperpolarizing currents increase the size of the response to light; depolarizing currents of increasing strength reduce and then reverse the response.
5. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that light activates the visual cell by decreasing the permeability of membrane channels which in darkness act as a shunt of the membrane.
519 citations
TL;DR: A number of motor cell bodies have been identified in the segmental ganglia of the ventral nerve cord of the medicinal leech and these motoneurones supply either excitatory or inhibitory innervation to the muscles in the body wall.
Abstract: 1. A number of motor cell bodies have been identified in the segmental ganglia of the ventral nerve cord of the medicinal leech. These motoneurones supply either excitatory or inhibitory innervation to the muscles in the body wall.
2. Several tests were made to establish that each of the identified motoneurones directly innervates muscle fibres. (a) By injecting a fluorescent dye into the cell bodies of motoneurones, their axons were traced through one or both contralateral roots. (b) Electrical stimulation of a motoneurone by an intracellular electrode caused a single nerve impulse to travel through the roots to the muscles where it set up an excitatory or an inhibitory junctional potential. (c) Impulses set up in the roots were conducted antidromically to the cell body. (d) If the preparation was bathed in 20 m M-Mg2+, which blocks chemical synapses, conduction from the cell body to the muscles was not interrupted. Thus it is unlikely that an interneurone was interposed in the pathway within the ganglion.
3. Fourteen pairs of excitatory cells and three pairs of inhibitory cells can be identified in each of the twenty-one segmental ganglia. These neurones together supply the five different muscle layers in each segment which execute the movements of the leech. Each neurone innervates a territory of muscle fibres which has a consistent size and location from segment to segment. Several lines of evidence suggest that the identified cells form a major fraction of the total number of excitatory motoneurones in the ganglion.
4. The territories of the motoneurones are arranged in a quilt-like pattern closely resembling that already found for the receptive fields of sensory cells on the skin. Within the longitudinal muscle sheet, individual cells supply narrow or wide strips. The firing of each cell thus could produce bending of the segment in various directions or symmetrical shortening of it, depending on which of the motoneurones were active.
5. It is possible to deduce which motoneurones are firing to produce a particular movement of the animal. Thus these experiments provide a basis for studying reflex integration between motoneurones and the identified mechanosensory cells in the ganglion.
287 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, single unit impulses were recorded from the median and the ulnar nerves in waking human subjects with percutaneously inserted tungsten electrodes and 61 mechanoreceptor units in the glabrous skin were analysed with regard to the characteristics of their receptive fields and the basic physiological properties of their endings.
Abstract: Single unit impulses were recorded from the median and the ulnar nerves in waking human subjects with percutaneously inserted tungsten electrodes. 61 mechanoreceptor units in the glabrous skin were analysed with regard to the characteristics of their receptive fields and the basic physiological properties of their endings. 4 different types of receptors could be distinguished. This distinction was based mainly upon the adaptation and the receptive field characteristics although other differences were also observed. The fields had very sharp borders for the majority of the slowly as well as the rapidly adapting units. The field sizes varied considerably: between 10 mm2 and 600 mm2. For a minority of the receptors, slowly as well as rapidly adapting ones, the receptive fields were constituted of a center of high sensitivity and a wide surrounding area of lower sensitivity without distinct borders. The four types of receptors encountered in the present study have striking similarities with four different types of mechano-receptors which have been described in sub-human primates, namely the type I and type II slowly adapting, intradermal receptor, according to Iggo's terminology, an intradermal rapidly adapting receptor and the Pacinian corpuscle which is located in the subcutaneous tissues. Roughly 75% of the units were slowly adapting. This is a much larger proportion than found in the monkey. Further, it was shown how the recording method offers the opportunity to analyse the perceptive responses as well as the neurophysiological responses in first order neurons to mechanical stimuli.
286 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that the amacrine cell is involved in mediating complex visual transformations in certain vertebrate retinas in those animals which are known to have relatively complex retinal ganglion cell receptive field properties.
Abstract: The inner plexiform layer of human, monkey, cat, rat, rabbit, ground squirrel, frog and pigeon retinas was studied by electron microscopy. All showed the same qualitative synaptic arrangements: bipolar cells made dyad ribbon synapses onto amacrine and ganglion cells; amacrine cells made conventional synaptic contacts onto bipolar, ganglion cells; amacrine cells montage of electron micrographs through the full thickness of the inner plexiform layer were made for each species and were scored for synaptic contacts. Both absolute and relative quantitative differences were found between species. The ratio of amacrine cell (conventional) synapses to bipolar cell (ribbon) synapses, the absolute number of amacrine cell synapses and the number of inter-amacrine cell synapses were all found to be higher in those animals which are known to have relatively complex retinal ganglion cell receptive field properties. It is suggested that the amacrine cell is involved in mediating complex visual transformations in certain vertebrate retinas.
285 citations
TL;DR: The findings are compatible with a model in which each geniculate on- center cell gets its major excitatory input from one optic tract on-center fibre and inhibitory input from several off-center fibres with nearby receptive fields, and the responses to moving stimuli also agreed with this model.
Abstract: In the lateral geniculate body (LGB), intra- and quasi-intracellular records were done With small light stimuli shone into different parts of the receptive field, EPSPs and IPSPs could be elicited Stimulation of the exact center of an on-center cell produced a pure excitatory response, that of an off-center neurone pure inhibition This response lasted throughout the stimulus At light off, inhibition was elicited in on-center cells and excitation in off-center cells A stimulus in the field periphery produced a mixed response with a small and short excitation followed by large inhibition in on-center cells, and a short inhibition followed by postsynaptic depolarization in off-center cells At light off, on-center cells showed depolarization after a short polarizing phase, and off-center cells a broad polarization which interrupted the initial small excitation The latencies of both the excitatory and inhibitory center responses at light on and off characteristic for the two types of neurones, were 20–30 msec shorter than the reversed responses elicited by stimulation of the receptive field surround
200 citations
TL;DR: A bilateral projection of the retinal area concerned with central vision may be related to the evolutionary acquisition of an uncrossed optic pathway.
190 citations
TL;DR: A neurophysiological theory for binocular single vision and depth discrimination is put forward as a theoretical framework for the construction of the horopter for the cat as well as a region analogous to Panum's fusional area in man.
Abstract: Of binocularly-activated striate neurons only a proportion have their two receptive fields in exactly corresponding positions in the contralateral hemifield Those which are not corresponding are said to show receptive field disparity Because the eyes diverge in the anaesthetized and paralyzed preparation, the binocular receptive fields are horizontally separate With increasing retinal eccentricity there is a gradual decrease in this horizontal separation as well as progressive changes in the local receptive field disparities With increasing horizontal retinal eccentricity there is a progressive increase in horizontal receptive field disparities together with a smaller decrease in vertical disparities Receptive field disparities are relatively unaffected by increasing vertical retinal eccentricity
186 citations
TL;DR: A three-component model of spatial vision is proposed, consisting of a feedback stage, a feedforward stage, and a threshold detector that correspond to physiological processes.
Abstract: A three-component model of spatial vision is proposed, consisting of (1) a feedback stage, (2) a feedforward stage, (3) a threshold detector. The components correspond to physiological processes; in particular, the feedforward control signal corresponds to the “surround’s” signal in the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells. The model makes appropriate qualitative predictions of: (l)a square-root law (Δl ∞ l1/2) for detection at low luminances, (2) a Weber law (Δl ∞ l) at high luminances, (3) additivity of threshold masking effects at high background luminances, (4) receptive fields that, in the dark, consist only of an excitatory center and that, in the light, also contain inhibitory surrounds, (5) the variation of spatial characteristics of receptive fields depending on the temporal characteristic of the test stimulus used to measure them, (6) the subjective appearance of Mach bands, (7) sine-wave contrast-threshold transfer functions, (8) the frequent failure of disk-detection experiments to demonstrate inhibitory surrounds, and (9) various second-order threshold effects, such as reduced spatial integration for long-duration stimuli, reduced temporal integration for large-area stimuli, and the increased effect of background luminance on the detection of large-area stimuli. Predictions are improved by assuming there exist various sizes of receptive fields that determine thresholds jointly.
TL;DR: Spatial summation curves have been determined under photopic conditions for loci between 5 and 55° from fixation and the area and Weber fraction for the largest stimulus showing complete summation has been estimated.
Abstract: 1. Spatial summation curves have been determined under photopic conditions for loci between 5 and 55° from fixation. At each locus the area and Weber fraction for the largest stimulus showing complete summation (Sc) has been estimated. While the area of Sc increases progressively towards the periphery, its Weber fraction remains constant.
2. The invariance of the Weber fraction for Sc, coupled with changes in its area, have been compared with similar findings observed during changes in adaptation level, in impaired fields, and during accommodative and convergence changes. It is suggested that the Weber fraction for Sc may be an important parameter of visual function which is maintained under changing conditions by alterations in the area over which background energy is summated.
3. It has been shown that, for stimulus areas up to at least 1 log unit greater than Sc, all the summation curves from 5 to 55° from fixation can be superimposed by simple displacement along the log area axis. For loci closer together, the superimposition has been shown for larger ranges of areas beyond Sc. This suggests that, so far as spatial summation is concerned, changes in locus serve only to change the spatial scale of the visual system.
4. Comparisons have been made between the area of Sc at various loci and the sizes of the central regions of the receptive fields of retinal ganglion cells determined electrophysiologically in the primate.
TL;DR: The findings suggest that human motor cortex plays a less important role in integration of disparate sensory inputs from the periphery than does motor cortex of lower animals.
TL;DR: Binocularly driven single units were recorded in the cat's striate cortex and the two monocular receptive fields were stimulated simultaneously to assess the optimal positioning of the image in both eyes to give the best binocular response.
Abstract: 1. Binocularly driven single units were recorded in the cat's striate cortex. For each neurone the two monocular receptive fields were stimulated simultaneously in order to assess the optimal positioning of the image in both eyes to give the best binocular response.
2. The electrode was driven perpendicular to the surface of the brain to explore cortical columns, all the cells of which are known to have the same preferred target orientation.
3. All orientation columns were found to fit into one of two classes according to their binocular organization.
4. In a constant depth column the receptive fields of binocular neurones cover a small retinal area and they are laid out in almost identical arrays in the two eyes. Consequently, the horizontal disparity is practically the same for all the units. The depth column as a whole is viewing a thin sheet of visual space, a few degrees wide, floating at some distance from the cat. There may be about 0·6° disparity difference between neighbouring depth columns.
5. In a constant direction column the binocular units' fields are all super-imposed on the retina contralateral to the hemisphere containing the column. In the ipsilateral eye they are more scattered horizontally. Therefore the horizontal disparity varies enormously from cell to cell and the column as a whole is viewing a cylinder of visual space directed towards the contralateral eye. Neighbouring direction columns may vary by about 4° in their oculocentric visual direction.
6. This columnar arrangement is probably important for space perception in the cat. Activity in only one depth and one direction column would specify the orientation and the three-dimensional locus of an object in space.
7. The two types of column may be involved in the control of disjunctive and conjugate eye movements.
TL;DR: The projection from the contralateral eye dominates the cat's visual cortex, and stereoscopic vision may depend on this difference in the two projections.
Abstract: The projection from the contralateral eye dominates the cat's visual cortex. Binocular neurones in any small region have their receptive fields more widely scattered over the ipsilateral retina than over the contralateral. Stereoscopic vision may depend on this difference in the two projections.
TL;DR: Single neurons recorded in the upper lumbar spinal cord with microelectrodes were tested with afferent volleys from homosegmental white rami communicantes and spinal nerves and Ipsilateral and contralateral units were found that responded to both inputs.
TL;DR: Comparison of peripheral receptive fields of cells in the interrelated regions of the two cortical areas shows that the two regions receive input from overlapping or contiguous peripheral loci.
TL;DR: Results from ischemic retinal deafferentation experiments demonstrated that this spontaneous firing did not originate in the retina itself, and a possible mechanism underlying the directional selectivity of these tectal neurons is proposed.
01 Dec 1970
TL;DR: An electronic model of the retina has been developed with a new technique in making interconnections between the cells with results that show the Mach-band and the Broca-Sulzer effects.
Abstract: An electronic model of the retina has been developed with a new technique in making interconnections between the cells. The model consists of about 700 photoreceptors and the same number of output cells. The output cells have concentric on-center type receptive fields and show the Mach-band and the Broca-Sulzer effects.
TL;DR: It has been demonstrated that the inhibitory ‘surround’ for sustained edge units (class 1 and 2) is considerably larger than previously realized, extending up to 45° from the edge of the ERF.
Abstract: The activity of frog retinal ganglion cells has been studied, using metal filled micropipette electrodes and recording the activity in either the optic nerve or the superficial neuropil of the optic tectum. It is a feature common to all such cells that their activity can be modulated by retinal stimulation of an area surrounding the excitatory receptive field (ERF).
It has been demonstrated that the inhibitory ‘surround’ for sustained edge units (class 1 and 2) is considerably larger than previously realized, extending up to 45° from the edge of the ERF.
An inhibitory surround to the receptive fields of ‘on’ units has been demonstrated. In addition an unsuspected complexity of the surround organization of dimmer units (class 4) has been found.
TL;DR: Electrical stimulation of the centrifugal fibers to the avian retina can disturb the balance between the excitatory and inhibitory system within the receptive fields of individual retinal ganglion cells.
Abstract: Electrical stimulation of the centrifugal fibers to the avian retina can disturb the balance between the excitatory and inhibitory system within the receptive fields of individual retinal ganglion cells. Although the mechanisms may vary from one unit to another, the effect is always to make them fire more readily and to a wider range of visual inputs.
TL;DR: Extracellular discharges were recorded from single neurons located in the ventrobasal thalamus of anesthetized squirrel monkeys and the magnitude of the rise in discharge rate to cooling was generally proportional to the degree of cooling.
TL;DR: Cutaneous mechanoreceptors in the domestic duck, Anas platyrhynchos, were classified as follows and individually exposed Herbst corpuscles were shown to respond similarly to vibration.
TL;DR: Extracellular recordings were made from directionally selective ganglion cell units in the isolated frog retina and decapitated Necturus preparation to study the response of these cells to laser-spot assisted chemoreception.
Abstract: 1. Extracellular recordings were made from directionally selective ganglion cell units in the isolated frog retina and decapitated Necturus preparation.
2. Intracellular recordings were made from individual photoreceptor cells in the frog and Necturus retinae while stimuli which had evoked directionally selective responses at the ganglion cell level were presented. No evidence for inhibition of photoreceptors for any direction of movement of the light stimulus was found. This appeared to rule out a mechanism for directional selectivity involving inhibition of photoreceptor potentials.
3. Intracellular recordings were made from the nuclear layer between photoreceptors and ganglion cells in Necturus. The responses were of two types: either transitory or sustained.
4. The sustained type responses could be divided into two classes depending on their receptive field organization. One type of sustained potential had a large receptive field without any evidence for a centre-surround antagonism and corresponded to the luminosity type S-potential recorded in fish. The other type had a smaller receptive field and showed a difference in sign of response between centre and surround if the centre was flooded with a steady light. This is very similar to what has been described for a type of on-centre, off-surround ganglion cell.
5. The transitory type of responses showed some centre-surround antagonistic organization. Some of these transitory units also appeared to show some discrimination in response as a function of the distribution of light on the retina.
6. No specific directional selectivity was found from units at the inner nuclear layer. This further excluded any mechanism of directional sensitivity which involves selectivity at the photoreceptor level.
7. It was concluded that although inner nuclear layer units may play a role in the mechanism of directional selectivity, no specific directionality was found at the first synaptic level of the retina.
TL;DR: The experimental results indicate that the non-linear spatial summation of excitation within the RF-center is dependent on the temporal properties of the stimulus pattern.
Abstract: In light-adapted cats action potentials of single optic tract fibers were recorded. Four light-stimuli of 0.09 degree diameter and 0.18 degree distance were projected to the receptive field center (sinusoidal stimulation 0.5 to 25 cps, degrce of modulation>0.9, maximal luminance 54 to 122 asb). The position of the 4 spot stimulus pattern was adjusted within the RF-center, as each light-spot elicited approximately the same neuronal activation. The spatial summation of the response of on-center and off-center neurons to one, two, three and four-spot illumination does not support a hypothesis of linear spatial summation and lateral interaction within the receptive field. The summing properties of on-center neurons in the RF-center are best described bymodels with multiplicative, lateral forward inhibition within the receptive field center [eq. (5–7)]. The inhibition coefficientk
i
in these equations was dependent on the stimulus frequency. It decreased with stimulus frequencies between 3 and 10 cps and increased above 10 cps. The experimental results indicate that the non-linear spatial summation of excitation within the RF-center is dependent on the temporal properties of the stimulus pattern.
TL;DR: The results from a survey of balance for cells of the LGN of the squirrel monkey are reported, finding differences were found in the relative distributions of center-surround balance between those cells having excitatory and those having inhibitory centers.
TL;DR: The receptive field characteristics of single visual units in the ipsilateral tectum of the frog were investigated and all responded to small visual stimulus objects and gave a sustained response to a small stationary black disk.
Abstract: The receptive field characteristics of single visual units in the ipsilateral tectum of the frog were investigated. In contrast to units in the contralateral tectum, ipsilateral units all responded to small visual stimulus objects and gave a sustained response to a small stationary black disk. Inhibition of this sustained response by a moving edge some distance from the ERF could be demonstrated and was more marked than with contralateral units. Some of the deeper ipsilateral units, in addition to the properties already mentioned, were excited by decremental dimming of the background illumination. The type of behaviour known as ‘changing contrast detection’ (class 3 units) in the contralateral tectum was not found ipsilaterally.
TL;DR: Behavioral analysis on five of the monkeys which were revived after the experiment show no significant correlation between classes of cells in a given animal and his performance in visual discriminations.
Abstract: The receptive fields of 159 units in the visual cortex (area 17) of the rhesus monkey were mapped by moving a white or black disc in a scanning pattern on a tangential contrasting screen placed 57 cm from the animal. The area explored was 25° × 25°. Bars, edges, and other ‘whole’ stimuli, some of them colored, were used to determine the most effective stimulus parameters. The units recorded from were divided into fourteen groups. The most numerous groups of units were: disc, 26%; diffuse, 14%; line, 13%; color-sensitive, 14%; and another group of units unresponsive to any stimuli, 36 %. Behavioral analysis on five of the monkeys which were revived after the experiment show no significant correlation between classes of cells in a given animal and his performance in visual discriminations.