Summary
The receptive fields of units in the visual cortex of anaesthetised cats were studied using spots or slits of light. Some fields were found to be stable when they were repeatedly plotted with the cat maintained in the horizontal position: other fields were not stable and the sharpness of spatial tuning varied though the orientation of the axis did not shift. When the cat was tilted the field axis of the majority of cells followed the tilt. In 14 cells, however, changes occurred in the receptive field which were not observed when the animal remained in the horizontal plane. These changes included drifts of the field axis in a direction which, with one exception, was opposite to the tilt, and alterations in the spatial extent of the field. On returning the animal to horizontal the axis of 4 fields drifted past the original orientation. These effects were not eliminated by either bilateral destruction of the labyrinth or high cervical transection of the spinal cord. The time of onset of the tilt effects varied from cell to cell: some of this variability is probably an effect of anaesthesia.
The findings are consistent with the view that the receptive field of certain cells in the visual cortex are capable of being modified, one of the modifying influences being the orientation of the body in space.
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This work was supported by grants from the Science Research Council to G. Horn and from the U.S. Public Health Service to G. Stechler (Grant MH 16215) and R.M. Hill (Grant NB 05653).
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Horn, G., Stechler, G. & Hill, R.M. Receptive fields of units in the visual cortex of the cat in the presence and absence of bodily tilt. Exp Brain Res 15, 113–132 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235577
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235577