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The visual cortical association field: a Gestalt concept or a psychophysiological entity?
F Chavane1, C Monier, V Bringuier
1Unité de neurosciences intégratives et computationnelles, UPR CNRS 2191, Institut fédératif de neurobiologie Alfred-Fessard, CNRS, 91 198, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Journal of Physiology, Paris
|February 13, 2001
Summary
The receptive field of visual neurons is larger than previously thought, extending beyond firing activity to include synaptic integration. This extended field, driven by horizontal axons, influences motion perception.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Visual Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- The classical definition of a visual neuron's receptive field is limited to the area eliciting firing activity.
- Previous studies have not fully characterized the extent of synaptic integration within receptive fields.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the full extent of the synaptic integration field in visual neurons.
- To explore the mechanisms underlying subthreshold synaptic responses in the 'silent' surround of receptive fields.
- To correlate electrophysiological findings with psychophysical observations of motion perception.
Main Methods:
- Intracellular recordings in cat area 17.
- Spatio-temporal analysis of electrophysiological data.
- Psychophysical experiments using Gabor patches in human observers.
Main Results:
- The visually evoked synaptic integration field is significantly larger than the classical receptive field defined by spike activity.
- Subthreshold synaptic responses in the receptive field surround are mediated by intracortical spread of activation via horizontal axons.
- Human observers perceive co-linear Gabor patch sequences (activating V1 cells) as faster, suggesting a perceptual correlate to the extended receptive field.
Conclusions:
- The receptive field of visual neurons encompasses a larger synaptic integration area than traditionally defined.
- Slowly conducting horizontal axons play a crucial role in transmitting subthreshold signals within the primary visual cortex.
- The interaction between feedforward and horizontal activation may facilitate motion perception, as evidenced by enhanced apparent motion perception.
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