Responses to coloured patterns in the macaque lateral geniculate nucleus: analysis of receptive field properties

Response patterns to complex visual stimuli were further analysed. Patterns were correlated with linear or non-linear components of the stimulus pattern at various wavelengths. Resulting correlograms revealed the spatial and spectral structure of receptive fields; they showed peaks or troughs according to whether that wavelength was associated with an increase or decrease in cell firing. Spectral response curves as derived from linear correlograms were similar to those reported for monochromatic stimuli. Variability in responsiveness and crossover wavelengths was high between parvocellular layer (PCL) cells even of the same class. Spatial differences between excitatory and suppressive receptive field components, i.e. a centre-surround organisation, are not apparent in linear correlograms from PCL cells. In this respect, spectral response curves do not qualitatively change with stimulus size. Correlation in time and the derivation of impulse functions showed that, even in magnocellular layer (MCL) cells, responses to luminance steps are of mainly temporal origin and due to a transient component in the response. A description of cell responses based on linear processing accounted well for the response patterns obtained in our experiments. Of various non-linear interactions investigated, only some kind of non-linear spectral differentiation provided an improvement in the description of cell responses. This improvement, however, was only minor and not present in all cells.