Summary
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1.
A glass microelectrode was inserted into the unit responding to movements of a spot in the lobula or, on rare occasions, in the medulla of the optic lobe of fleshflies (Boettcherisca peregrina).
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2.
By the sequential presentation of several or two stationary spots placed along the preferred-null axis of the directionally selective unit and by the turning on and off of a stationary spot (test stimulus) placed along the preferred-null axis at various distances from another continuously lighted, fixed spot (conditioned stimulus), it is demonstrated that spatial, excitatory effects were produced on the preferred direction side of the conditioned spot, and simultaneously, spatial, inhibitory effects were seen on the side of the null direction. Therefore, it is considered that movement perception is analyzed on the basis of the stationary and elemental light sensation and is completed by both the mechanism of excitation in the preferred direction and inhibition in the null direction.
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3.
The field with excitatory effect is relatively wider (20 ° or more in visual angle) than that with inhibitory one (8 °–20 °, rarely more than 20 °). The inhibitory effect decreases gradually with increasing distance from the conditioned spot stimulus, while the excitatory effect increases with each 5 ° of separation in visual angle from the conditioned spot. Therefore, it is assumed that the neural mechanism for excitatory effects is different from that for inhibitory effects.
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4.
Movements of a bright slit on a dark background and a dark slit on a light background were given using various slit lengths. The discharge rate in the directionally selective unit shows an increase, a decrease or an increase after a decrease by increasing the length of the slit. These three kinds of responses are explained by the width of the interactivity between the excitatory and inhibitory fields to spot stimulation.
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5.
The neural organization of excitatory and inhibitory field effects underlying the directional selectivity in movement perception is discussed from the morphological view point.
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This study was supported in part by a grant from the Education Ministry of Japan.
I wish to express my gratitude to Prof. M. Kuwabara and Dr. H. Tateda, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, for their support and very helpful discussions in this work. I especially wish to thank Drs. Y. Toh and K. Morimoto of the same Department for their help in breeding the fly.
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Mimura, K. Neural mechanisms, subserving directional selectivity of movement in the optic lobe of the fly. J. Comp. Physiol. 80, 409–437 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696437
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696437