Response properties of neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus of neonatal kittens

A previous study led us to consider the implications of the types of receptive fields found in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of neonatal kittens. Thus, we studied cells in the A layers in the LGN of kittens aged 6-29 days using extracellular recording techniques. Peri-stimulus-time-histograms were constructed in response to flashing spots of light centered in the receptive field of each unit. All units studied showed an excitatory response only to light onset (on-center) or light offset (off-center). No units were found which had an excitatory response to both phases of the stimulus (On-Off). Possible differences in classification between this study and that of earlier workers who reported On-Off cells in young kittens are discussed.