Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Disinhibition outside receptive fields in the visual cortex.

Gary A Walker1, Izumi Ohzawa, Ralph D Freeman

  • 1Group in Vision Science, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-2020, USA.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|July 5, 2002
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Modeling time to visual insight in Mooney image recognition with a chaotic recurrent neural network.

Cognitive neurodynamics·2026
Same author

A single fast Hebbian-like process enabling one-shot class addition in deep neural networks without backbone modification.

Frontiers in neuroscience·2024
Same author

Key relationships between non-invasive functional neuroimaging and the underlying neuronal activity.

Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences·2020
Same author

Local organization of spatial frequency tuning dynamics in the cat visual areas 17 and 18.

Journal of neurophysiology·2020
Same author

2015 Charles F. Prentice Medal Award Lecture: Neural Organization of Binocular Vision.

Optometry and vision science : official publication of the American Academy of Optometry·2017
Same author

Long-term Safety and Efficacy of a Sustained-Release Bimatoprost Ocular Ring.

Ophthalmology·2017

Neurons in the visual cortex are suppressed by surrounding stimuli. This study reveals that masking stimuli can reverse this suppressive effect, suggesting local mechanisms influence neural responses.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Visual Cortex Function
  • Sensory Processing

Background:

  • The region outside a neuron's classical receptive field (CRF) typically does not directly activate it.
  • Previous research indicated that surrounding stimuli primarily exert a suppressive influence on neuronal responses within the visual cortex.
  • This suppressive effect was generally found to be localized to the area immediately outside the CRF.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the underlying mechanisms of the suppressive effects originating from outside the classical receptive field (CRF).
  • To determine the spatial extent and nature of these suppressive influences on visual cortex neurons.
  • To explore whether these suppressive effects can be modulated or reversed.

Main Methods:

  • Identifying the optimal position of a grating patch stimulus for maximum suppression of a neuron's response.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Employing a masking stimulus at varying contrasts presented over the grating patch.
  • Analyzing the effects of the masking stimulus on the neuron's response to assess disinhibition.

    • Main Results:

    • The suppressive effects elicited by stimuli outside the CRF were found to be partially or completely reversible using a masking stimulus.
    • This reversal (disinhibition) indicates that the suppressive influences are likely local in nature.
    • The findings suggest a dynamic interaction between the classical receptive field and its surrounding visual environment.

    Conclusions:

    • Stimulation outside the classical receptive field (CRF) exerts local suppressive effects on visual cortex neurons.
    • These suppressive effects can be modulated, suggesting active neural mechanisms are involved.
    • While not directly explaining figure-ground perception, these local interactions may form a basis for complex visual scene analysis.