A New Code for Contrast in the Primate Visual Pathway.
From: Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA. ctailby@unimelb.edu.au
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
- Publish Date: Apr 2007
- ISSN: 1529-2401
- Volume: 27
- Issue: 14
- Pages: 3904-9
- Medium: Internet
- Language: English
- Citation (JAMA): Tailby Chris, Solomon Samuel G, Dhruv Neel T, et al. A New Code for Contrast in the Primate Visual Pathway.. J. Neurosci. Apr 2007;27:3904-9
Abstract
We characterize a hitherto undocumented type of neuron present in the regions bordering the principal layers of the macaque lateral geniculate nucleus. Neurons of this type were distinguished by a high and unusually regular maintained discharge that was suppressed by spatiotemporal modulation of luminance or chromaticity within the receptive field. The response to any effective stimulus was a reduction in discharge, reminiscent of the “suppressed-by-contrast” cells of the cat retina. To a counterphase-modulated grating, the response was a phase-insensitive suppression modulated at twice the stimulus frequency, implying a receptive field comprised of multiple mechanisms that generate rectifying responses. This distinctive nonlinearity makes the neurons well suited to computing a measure of contrast energy; such a signal might be important in regulating sensitivity early in visual cortex.
Mesh Headings (Keywords): Animals, Contrast Sensitivity, Macaca fascicularis, Male, Photic Stimulation, Visual Fields, Visual Pathways
Check for Full Text / PubMed Unique Identifier (PMID): 17409255
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