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Spatial and temporal properties of X and Y cells in the cat lateral geniculate nucleus.
Author(s) -
Derrington A M,
Fuchs A F
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
the journal of physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.802
H-Index - 240
eISSN - 1469-7793
pISSN - 0022-3751
DOI - 10.1113/jphysiol.1979.sp012893
Subject(s) - spatial frequency , lateral geniculate nucleus , physics , nucleus , geniculate , visual cortex , dorsum , sine wave , cats , neuroscience , chemistry , optics , biophysics , anatomy , biology , quantum mechanics , voltage , computer science , embedded system
1. Extracellular recordings were obtained from units in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of anaesthetized cats. 2. Of sixty‐nine units, sixty‐three could be unambiguously identified as either X (n = 33) or Y (n = 30) by testing the presence of a null response to stationary sine wave gratings presented in different spatial phases. 3. In response to stationary gratings flashed on and off, Y cells exhibited bigger, more transient responses than X cells. 4. All Y cells but few X cells exhibited a shift effect (modulated periphery effect). 5. In response to drifting sine wave gratings of different spatial frequencies, X cells preferred higher spatial frequencies and showed smaller peak contrast sensitivities and somewhat narrower tuning curves than Y cells. 6. In response to a sine wave grafting of optimal spatial frequency drifting at different velocities, X and Y cells had similar temporal tuning curves. However, Y cells, largely because they preferred lower spatial frequencies, preferred higher drift velocities than X cells. 7. Our data suggest that X and Y cells can be differentiated objectively on the basis of a number of discharge parameters. These parameters are compared with similar data collected by others from neurones in the visual cortex.