[Receptive fields of neurons of primary auditory cortex neurons in the cat]

Receptive fields of primary auditory cortical neurons were investigated by direct stimulation of nerve fibers in different parts of the cochlea in cats anesthetized with nembutal. The size of the excitatory receptive field depends on the location of te neuron in the cortical auditory area. The more caudal is the position of the neuron in the primary auditory cortical projection of the cochlea, the more extended its receptive field is. The most narrow and symmetrical receptive fields were found in the basal coil of the cochlea. A suggestion is made that the region of finest discrimination of acoustic signals is located in the basal coil of the cochlea which has the largest representation in the primary cortex.