Summary
In alert cat and monkey, a unit type recorded in the region of the thalamic internal medullary lamina seems to provide the extraretinal signal postulated by Singer (1982) to explain the development of mature receptive field properties in cortical visual neurons. These thalamic units are silent (or silenced) during saccades in all directions; they discharge as soon as the eyes assume a new position. The abolition of this discharge by thalamic lesion, or conversely, its elicitation by electrical stimulation could respectively prevent or facilitate plastic changes in visual cortical areas of kittens.
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References
Schlag-Rey M, Schlag J (1981) Eye-movement neuronal activity in the central thalamus of monkeys. In: Fuchs A, Becker W (eds) Progress in oculomotor research. Elsevier/North Holland, Amsterdam New York, pp 169–176
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Singer W, Rauschecker JP (1982) Central core control of developmental plasticity in the kitten visual cortex: II. Electrical activation of mesencephalis and diencephalic projections. Exp Brain Res 47: 223–233
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Supported by USPHS Grants NS 04955 and EY 02305
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Schlag, J., Schlag-Rey, M. Thalamic units firing upon refixation may be responsible for plasticity in visual cortex. Exp Brain Res 50, 146–148 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238241
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238241