Summary
The receptive field centre of cells in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus were mapped as iso-sensitivity contours. 94% of the cells were found to have elliptical centres, and analysis of the major axis orientation showed that 29% and 59% of units had their major axis oriented within ± 20° of the radial and horizontal directions, respectively. The data for Y-cells showed a greater dispersion in their orientation biases (R = 0.57) compared with X-cells (R = 0.79). Nevertheless, a horizontal orientation bias was found in both classes of cells: 47% of Y-cells and 73% of X-cells. In addition, an examination of the major axis orientations was undertaken for cells with receptive field centres located along the radial direction of 35° below the horizontal meridian. In this 35° Radial Group a horizontal bias was also confirmed. Analysis of the dispersion of major axis orientations with eccentricity from the area centralis showed a statistically significant decrease in scatter and, hence, indicated an increase in the horizontal bias with eccentricity.
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Ahmed, B., Hammond, P. Orientation bias of cat dorsal lateral geniculate cells: directional analysis of the major axis of the receptive field centre. Exp Brain Res 84, 676–679 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00230982
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00230982