Cone inputs to simple and complex cells in V1 of awake macaque

Rules by which V1 neurons combine signals originating in the cone photoreceptors are poorly understood. We measured cone inputs to V1 neurons in awake, fixating monkeys with white-noise analysis techniques that reveal properties of light responses not revealed by purely linear models used in previous studies. Simple cells were studied by spike-triggered averaging that is robust to static nonlinearities in spike generation. This analysis revealed, among heterogeneously tuned neurons, two relatively discrete categories: one with opponent L- and M-cone weights and another with nonopponent cone weights. Complex cells were studied by spike-triggered covariance, which identifies features in the stimulus sequence that trigger spikes in neurons with receptive fields containing multiple linear subunits that combine nonlinearly. All complex cells responded to nonopponent stimulus modulations. Although some complex cells responded to cone-opponent stimulus modulations too, none exhibited the pure opponent sensitivity observed in many simple cells. These results extend the findings on distinctions between simple and complex cell chromatic tuning observed in previous studies in anesthetized monkeys.