Possible Contribution of the Cortical Areas 17, 18 and 19 to the Optokinetic Response in the Cat

Abstract

According to Wood et al. (1973) ablation of areas 17, 18 and 19 of the cat, produces a marked reduction in the gain of the monocular OKN in the naso-temporal direction. Such a deficit can also be produced by rearing conditions such as dark rearing (Harris et al. 1980) and strobe rearing (Amblard et al. 1981), which are known to disturb visual cortical cell functions (Leventhal, Hirsh 1980; Orban et al. 1978). From these results, it has been suggested (Harris et al. 1980; Hoffmann 1981) that the visual afferences of OKN, reach the motor stages both through a cortical loop (movement in the naso-temporal direction) and a subcortical loop (movement in the temporo-nasal direction. Since the OKN requires information on the direction of motion of the visual field over the retina, we have investigated the direction selectivity of areas 17, 18 and 19 of the cat (Orban et al. 1981b; Duysens et al. 1982).