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The Role of Horizontal Connections in Generating Long Receptive Fields in the Cat Visual Cortex
Author(s) -
Bolz Jürgen,
Gilbert Charles D.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1460-9568.1989.tb00794.x
Subject(s) - receptive field , visual cortex , neuroscience , layer (electronics) , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , cortex (anatomy) , projection (relational algebra) , network layer , pyramidal cell , binocular neurons , biology , computer science , materials science , nanotechnology , hippocampal formation , algorithm
The cells in the primary visual cortex possess numerous functional properties that are more complex and varied than those seen in the cortical input. These properties result from the network of intrinsic cortical connections running across the cortical layers and between cortical columns. In the current study we relate the long receptive fields that are characteristic of layer 6 cells to the input that these cells receive from layer 5. The axons of layer 5 pyramidal cells project over long distances within layer 6, enabling layer 6 cells to collect input from regions of cortex representing large parts of the visual field. When layer 5 was locally inactivated by injection of the inhibitory transmitter GABA, layer 6 cells lost sensitivity over the portion of their receptive fields corresponding to the inactivated region of layer 5. This suggests that the extensive convergence in the projection from layer 5 to layer 6 is responsible for generating the long receptive fields characteristic of the layer 6 cells.