Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:36:19.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Direction selectivity of cells in the cat's striate cortex: Differences between bar and grating stimuli

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

C. Casanova ,
J. P. Nordmann ,
I. Ohzawa  and
R. D. Freeman
C. Casanova
Affiliation:
Group in Neurobiology, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley
J. P. Nordmann
Affiliation:
Group in Neurobiology, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley
I. Ohzawa
Affiliation:
Group in Neurobiology, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley
R. D. Freeman
Affiliation:
Group in Neurobiology, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We have investigated the notion that directional responses of cells in the visual cortex depend on the type of stimulus used to drive the cell. Specifically, we have asked if sinusoidal gratings provide a different estimate of direction selectivity than bars that are brighter or darker than the background.

Using standard techniques, we recorded from 176 cells in the visual cortex of nine cats. For each cell, bright bars, dark bars, and sinusoidal gratings were presented in a randomly interleaved fashion. Complex cells exhibited around twice as many direction-selective as nondirection-selective responses. Estimates of direction selectivity were nearly identical for bright and dark bars and for gratings. For simple cells, a similar ratio of direction-selective to nondirection-selective responses was observed for gratings. However, a larger proportion of simple cells were classified as direction selective when bars were used for stimulation.

A simple cell that exhibited direction selectivity to a grating behaved in a similar manner when stimulated with bright or dark bars. However, in contrast to complex cells, some simple cells classed as directionally nonselective on the basis of their responses to gratings, displayed directionally selective behavior to bars. In addition, the preferred directions for dark and bright bars sometimes differed. These results demonstrate that the classification of a simple cell as directionally selective or nonselective can depend critically on the visual stimulus used.

Keywords

Cat visual cortexDirection selectivityGratingsBars
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 9 , Issue 5 , November 1992 , pp. 505 - 513
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albrecht, D.G., Devalois, R.L. & Thorell, L.G. (1980). Visual cortical neurons: Are bars or gratings the optimal stimuli? Science 207, 88–90.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Albus, K. (1980). The detection of movement direction and effects of contrast reversal in the cat's striate cortex. Vision Research 20, 289–293.Google Scholar
Baker, C.L. (1988). Spatial and temporal determinants of directionally selective velocity preference in cat striate cortex neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology 59, 1557–1574.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barlow, H.B. & Levick, W.R. (1965). The mechanism of directionally-selective units in the rabbit's retina. Journal of Physiology (London) 178, 477–504.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berman, N.E.J., Wilkes, M.E. & Payne, B.R. (1987). Organization of orientation and direction selectivity in areas 17 and 18 of cat cerebral cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 58, 676–699.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bishop, P.O., Coombs, J.S. & Henry, G.H. (1971 a). Responses to visual contours: Spatio-temporal aspects of excitation in the receptive fields of simple striate neurons. Journal of Physiology (London) 219, 625–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bishop, P.O., Coombs, J.S. & Henry, G.H. (1971 b). Interaction effects of visual contours on the discharge frequency of simple striate neurons. Journal of Physiology (London) 219, 659–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bishop, P.O., Kato, H. & Orban, G.A. (1980). Direction-selective cells in complex family in cat striate cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 43, 1266–1283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Devalois, R.L., Yund, W. & Hepler, N. (1982 a). The orientation and direction selectivity of cells in macaque visual cortex. Vision Research 22, 531–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devalois, R.L., Albrecht, D.G. & Thorell, L. (1982 b). Spatial frequency selectivity of cells in macaque visual cortex. Vision Research 22, 545–560.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duysens, J., Maes, H. & Orban, G.A. (1987). The velocity dependence of direction selectivity of visual cortical neurons in the cat. Journal of Physiology (London) 387, 95–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emerson, R.C. & Gerstein, G.L. (1977). Simple striate neurons in the cat. I. Comparison of responses to moving and stationary stimuli. Journal of Neurophysiology 40, 119–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emerson, R.C., Citron, M.C., Vaughn, W.J. & Klein, S.A. (1987). Nonlinear directionally selective subunits in complex cells of cat striate cortex. Journal of Neurophysiology 58, 33–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eysel, U.Th., Muche, T. & Worgotter, F. (1988). Lateral interactions at direction-selective striate neurones in the cat demonstrated by local cortical inactivation. Journal of Physiology (London) 399, 657–675.Google Scholar
Ganz, L. & Felder, R. (1984). Mechanism of directional selectivity in simple neurons of the cat's visual cortex analyzed with stationary flash sequences. Journal of Neurophysiology 51, 294–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodwin, A.W. & Henry, G.H. (1975). Direction selectivity of complex cells in a comparison with simple cells. Journal of Neurophysiology 38, 1524–1540.Google Scholar
Heggelund, P. (1984). Direction asymmetry by moving stimuli and static receptive field plots for simple cells in cat striate cortex. Vision Research 24, 13–16.Google Scholar
Hildreth, E.C. & Koch, C. (1987). The analysis of visual motion: From computational theory to neuronal mechanisms. Annual Review of Neuroscience 10, 477–533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hubel, D.H. (1959). Single-unit activity in striate cortex of unrestrained cats. Journal of Physiology (London) 147, 226–238.Google Scholar
Hubel, D.H. & Wiesel, T.N. (1959). Receptive fields of single neurones in the cat's striate cortex. Journal of Physiology (London) 148, 574–591.Google Scholar
Hubel, D.H. & Wiesel, T.N. (1962). Receptive fields, binocular interaction, and functional architecture in the cat's visual cortex. Journal of Physiology (London) 160, 106–154.Google Scholar
Hubel, D.H. & Wiesel, T.N. (1968). Receptive fields and functional architecture of monkey striate cortex. Journal of Physiology (London) 195, 215–243.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levick, W.R. (1972). Another tungsten microelectrode. Medical and Biological Engineering 10, 510–515.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maske, R., Yamane, S. & Bishop, P.O. (1985). Simple and B-cells in cat striate cortex. Complementarity of responses to moving light and dark bars. Journal of Neurophysiology 53, 670–685.Google Scholar
Mikami, A., Newsome, W.T. & Wurtz, R.H. (1986). Motion selectivity in macaque visual cortex. I. Mechanisms of direction and speed selectivity in extrastriate area MT. Journal of Neurophysiology 55, 1308–1327.Google Scholar
Movshon, J.A., Thompson, I.D. & Tolhurst, D.J. (1978). Spatial and temporal contrast sensitivity of neurons in areas 17 and 18 of the cat's visual cortex. Journal of Physiology (London) 283, 101–120.Google Scholar
Orban, G.A., Kennedy, H. & Maes, H. (1981). Responses to movement of neurons in areas 17 and 18 of the cat: Direction selectivity. Journal of Neurophysiology 45, 1059–1073.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orban, G.A., Gulyas, B., Spileers, W. & Maes, H. (1987). Responses of cat striate neurons to moving light and dark bars: Changes with eccentricity. Journal of the Optical Society of America A-4, 1653–1665.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peterhans, E., Bishop, P.O. & Carmada, R.M. (1985). Direction selectivity of simple cells in cat striate cortex to moving light bars. I. Relation to stationary flashing bar and moving edge responses. Experimental Brain Research 57, 512–522.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, J.D., Nikara, T. & Bishop, P.O. (1968). Responses to moving slits by single units in cat striate cortex. Experimental Brain Research 6, 373–390.Google Scholar
Reid, R.C., Soodak, R.E. & Shapley, R.M. (1987). Linear mechanisms of directional selectivity in simple cells of cat striate cortex. Proceedings of the National A cademy of Sciences of the U.S.A. 84, 8740–8744.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruff, P.I., Raushecker, J.P. & Palm, G. (1987). A model of direction-selective “simple” cells in the visual cortex based on inhibition asymmetry. Biological Cybernetics 57, 147–157.Google Scholar
Schiller, P.H., Finlay, B.L. & Volman, S.F. (1976). Quantitative studies of single-cell properties in monkey striate cortex. I. Spatiotemporal organization of receptive fields. Journal of Neurophysiology 39, 1288–1319.Google Scholar
Sillito, A.M. (1977). Inhibitory processes underlying the directional specificity of simple, complex, and hypercomplex cells in the cat's visual cortex. Journal of Physiology (London) 271, 699–720.Google Scholar
Skottun, B.C. & Freeman, R.D. (1984). Stimulus specificity of binocular cells in the cat's visual cortex: Ocular dominance and matching of the left and right eyes. Experimental Brain Research 56, 206–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Skottun, B.C., Devalois, R.L., Grosof, D.H., Movshon, J.A., Albrecht, D.G. & Bonds, A.B. (1991). Classifying simple and complex cells on the basis of response modulation. Vision Research 31, 1079–1086.Google Scholar
Yamane, S., Maske, R. & Bishop, P.O. (1985). Direction selectivity of simple cells in cat striate cortex to moving light bars. II. Relation to moving dark bar responses. Experimental Brain Research 57, 523–536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed