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Different properties of two groups of orientation discriminators in the cat visual cortex

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Abstract

The properties of 149 neurons, divided into two groups, were investigated during acute experiments on immobilized cats. These consisted of "timers" (37%) in which latency of response and time taken for reaction to peak changed in an orientation range of not more than 10 msec. The remaining 63% consisted of "scanners" [2]. "Timers" reliably differed from "scanners" in their shorter latent periods, rising time of discharge rate, duration of response, and higher rate of impulsation at all orientations of the stimulus. "Scanners" display greater orientational tuning and "scan" much more frequently throughout the orientation range. The pattern of acuity of orientational tuning is counterphasic during response in neurons of these two groups, while the distribution of their preferred orientation is complementary in nature. Both timers and scanners were found in the orientation columns of the visual cortex on most occasions, with the latter predominating. Columns consisting of only timers or scanners were met with more seldom. The significance of the differences between the properties of the two groups of neurons in the visual cortex is discussed with a view to orientational discrimination.

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Authors
  1. N. A. Lazareva
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  2. R. V. Novikova
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  3. A. S. Tikhomirov
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  4. I. A. Shevelev
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Additional information

Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 85–92, January–February, 1986.

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Lazareva, N.A., Novikova, R.V., Tikhomirov, A.S. et al. Different properties of two groups of orientation discriminators in the cat visual cortex. Neurophysiology 18, 68–74 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052494

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052494

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