Receptive field

About: Receptive field is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8537 publications have been published within this topic receiving 596428 citations.

Oriented axon projections in primary visual cortex of the monkey.

Abstract: One important aspect of the functional architecture of primary visual cortex is the circuitry that accounts for the receptive field properties of neurons. The anatomy that underlies retinotopy and ocular dominance is well known, but no anatomical structure related to orientation selectivity has been found in primates. We examined whether the arrangement of local axon systems projecting within the cortical layers might be correlated with orientation preference in New World monkeys. We found that axons in layer 3 spread out from the site of a tracer injection in an anisotropic manner and that this elongated distribution is aligned with the preferred orientation recorded at each site. Moreover, within a few degrees of the foveal representation, the majority of the axon terminals fall within or just outside of the limits of the cortical mapping of the classical receptive field. Thus local axons produce a field of monosynaptic excitation that aligns with orientation axes and reaches neurons that have receptive fields which are adjacent in visual space.

Spatial and temporal properties of ‘sustained’ and ‘transient’ neurones in area 17 of the cat's visual cortex

Abstract: Receptive field properties of cells in area 17 of the visual cortex in the cat have been studied by quantitative methods The cortical cells were classified as ‘sustained’ or ‘transient’ according to their response to a stationary, optimal bar at the receptive field centre, this being analogous to the classification of retinal ganglion cells according to their response to a stationary, optimal spot Evidence is presented that the ‘sustained/transient’ classification is independent of the ‘simple/complex’ classification ‘Sustained’ cells of both ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ types had spatial frequency tuning curves with a sharp low-frequency cut, whereas ‘transient’ cells, both ‘simple’ and ‘complex’, had tuning curves with a shallow low-frequency cut, and on average were tuned to lower spatial frequencies than ‘sustained’ cells ‘Sustained’ cells of both ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ types, had temporal frequency tuning curves with a shallow low-frequency cut, whereas ‘transient’ cells had curves with a sharp low-frequency cut, and on average were tuned to higher temporal frequencies than ‘sustained’ cells The results indicate that ‘sustained’ and ‘transient’ cortical cells retain the spatial and temporal properties of ‘sustained’ and ‘transient’ retinal ganglion cells, respectively, and thus the two groups of neurones are organised in parallel throughout the visual system, the ‘sustained’ channel providing high spatial resolution and the ‘transient’ channel, high temporal resolution

Receptive fields of single cells in the cat's superior colliculus.

Abstract: Receptive field analysis of single units in the superior colliculus of the mid-pontine, pretrigeminal cat has confirmed previous reports of directionally selective units in the tectum. The directional property was based principally upon a unilateral inhibitory mechanism, although some directional responses to small moving objects depended equally upon summation of excitation. Receptive field size varied greatly, with field diameters not uncommonly exceeding 30 degrees. Fields near the area centralis and along the horizontal meridian tended to be smaller than those elsewhere. An inhibitory influence from the field periphery was demonstrated.

Comparison of photoreceptor spatial density and ganglion cell morphology in the retina of human, macaque monkey, cat, and the marmoset Callithrix jacchus.

Abstract: We studied the relationship between the morphology of ganglion cells and the spatial density of photoreceptors in the retina of two Old World primates, human and macaque monkey; the diurnal New World marmoset Callithrix jacchus; and the cat Ganglion cells in macaque and marmoset were labelled by intracellular injection with Neurobiotin or by DiI diffusion labelling in fixed tissue Cone photoreceptor densities were measured from the same retinas Supplemental data for macaque and data for human and cat were taken from published studies For the primates studied, the central retina is characterised by a constant numerical convergence of cones to ganglion cells Midget ganglion cells derive their input, via a midget bipolar cell, from a single cone Parasol cells derive their input from 40-140 cones Outside the central retina, the convergence increases with eccentricity The convergence to beta cells in the cat retina is very close to that for parasol cells in primate retina The convergence of rod photoreceptors to ganglion cells is similar in human, macaque, and marmoset, with parasol cells receiving input from 10-15 times more rods than midget cells The low convergence of cones to midget cells in human and macaque retinas is associated with distinctive dendritic "clusters" in midget cells' dendritic fields Convergence in marmoset is higher, and the clusters are absent We conclude that the complementary changes in photoreceptor density and ganglion cell morphology should be considered when forming linking hypotheses between dendritic field, receptive field, and psychophysical properties of primate vision