Title: Single units in visual cortex of kittens reared in stroboscopic illumination
Abstract: Visual responses were studied in 166 units from primary visual cortex (area 17) of kittens reared in a stroboscopically illuminated environment. Thirty-two units from the cortex of a normal adult cat served for comparison. Use of hand-moved stimuli was supplemented with computer runs during which a unit's responses to 8 evenly spaced directions of motion were averaged independently. Strobe-raised cells were found to be normal in preferring moving to flashed stimuli. As in normal cortex, most cells had directional preferences. In other regards, however, strobe-raised cortex was abnormal. Fewer units than in normal cortex showed a clear preference for a linear stimulus over a spot (45% vs. 86%). Fewer units were narrowly selective for axis of motion when driven by a moving spot (69% vs. 93%). Sluggish units were more common in strobe-raised than in normal cortex (30% vs. 17%). More units than in normal cortex gave responses to stroboscopic flash (24% vs. 13%). Visual fields of strobe-raised units had a greater average core-size than those of normal units (2.2° vs. 1.6°, for fields within 10° of the area centralis). In contrast to normal cortex, strobe-raised cortex contained a preponderance of monocular units. Discussion includes the implications of these results for the mechanisms by which early visual experience determines the specific response properties of visual cortical neurons.
Publication Year: 1974
Publication Date: 1974-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 61
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