title: Spatiotemporal receptive field structure of neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus of binocularly deprived cats.
abstract: Twelve cats were binocularly deprived of pattern vision from the time of eye opening by rearing in masks. Six cats were raised in masks for 5 to 7 months until an acute experiment (group D) and 6 others were additionally trained in visual pattern discrimination for 2 to 5 months following the initial deprivation period (group DV). In all cats the receptive fields (RFs) of neurons in lateral geniculate nucleus were analyzed with three-dimensional computer plots (response planes). The percentage of neurons encountered with homogeneous RFs (Y cells) was 7 perecent in D cats and 16 percent in DV cats. Both values are much lower than in normal cats. Y-type neurons had weakly developed surrounds of their RFs and more phasic responses than normal. Surrounds of heterogeneous (X cell) RFs were also weak or absent. X-type receptive field centers were enlarged in both D and DV animals when compared to a sample from normal cats. They were also larger in D than in DV cats, particularly within 8 degrees of eccentricity. The late components of the response patterns of X cells were weak or absent. Seven percent of neurons found in the middle of the A laminae in DV cats had an atypical (ON-OFF like) structure of their receptive field which might indicate that they were like immature X or Y neurons.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000502:physiology*; D012683:Sensory Deprivation / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*