Neuronal responsiveness in areas 19 and 21a, and the posteromedial lateral suprasylvian cortex of the cat. 1994

K Toyama, and K Mizobe, and E Akase, and T Kaihara
Department of Physiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.

Responsiveness to slits and pattern stimuli was quantified in a total of 68 cells sampled in the posterior extreme of the lateral suprasylvian (PS) cortex as response indices. The cells were studied in relationship to their locations in several subareas of the PS cortex, including areas 19 (n = 15) and 21a (n = 32) and the posteromedial lateral suprasylvian cortex (PMLS; n = 21). These subareas were identified based on retrograde labelling from area 17 and also supplemented with photic responsiveness. This analysis revealed that each cortical area contains cells expressing different combinations of stimulus features. Area 19 contained two major groups of cells: (1) those with strong end-stop selectivity combined with moderate orientation or direction selectivity, and (2) those with weak end-stop selectivity combined with strong orientation selectivity. The groups of cells with strong or moderate orientation selectivity showed a strong preference for stripe over visual noise patterns and relatively large modulatory responses to motion of individual stripes. The PMLS contained one major group of cells with strong end-stop and direction selectivities and with poor orientation selectivity. They also showed stronger preference for visual noise than cells in the other cortical areas and rather weak modulatory responses. Area 21a contained only one group of cells with strong orientation selectivity and length summation property rather than end-stop selectivity, and they also lacked direction selectivity. These cells exhibited a strong preference for stripe patterns and moderate or weak modulatory responses. Altogether, these findings indicate that each cortical area is specialized in expressing different stimulus features. The two groups of cells in area 19 may encode the position and motion of discontinuous visual elements such as corners and line ends and continuous elements such as lines and edges. PMLS cells may encode the motion of single elements or associated motion of multiple discontinuous elements such as textures and backgrounds. Area 21a cells may specifically encode the orientation of long, continuous elements such as lines and edges. In support of this view, two types of statistical analyses demonstrated that the combinations of the response properties expressed in individual PS cells are highly correlated with their locations in cortical areas and that the anatomical locations of individual PS cells are reliably predicted from the sets of response indices expressed in these cells.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009039 Motion Perception The real or apparent movement of objects through the visual field. Movement Perception,Perception, Motion,Perception, Movement
D009474 Neurons The basic cellular units of nervous tissue. Each neuron consists of a body, an axon, and dendrites. Their purpose is to receive, conduct, and transmit impulses in the NERVOUS SYSTEM. Nerve Cells,Cell, Nerve,Cells, Nerve,Nerve Cell,Neuron
D009949 Orientation Awareness of oneself in relation to time, place and person. Cognitive Orientation,Mental Orientation,Psychological Orientation,Cognitive Orientations,Mental Orientations,Orientation, Cognitive,Orientation, Mental,Orientation, Psychological,Orientations,Orientations, Cognitive,Orientations, Mental,Orientations, Psychological,Psychological Orientations
D010364 Pattern Recognition, Visual Mental process to visually perceive a critical number of facts (the pattern), such as characters, shapes, displays, or designs. Recognition, Visual Pattern,Visual Pattern Recognition
D010775 Photic Stimulation Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity. Stimulation, Photic,Visual Stimulation,Photic Stimulations,Stimulation, Visual,Stimulations, Photic,Stimulations, Visual,Visual Stimulations
D002415 Cats The domestic cat, Felis catus, of the carnivore family FELIDAE, comprising over 30 different breeds. The domestic cat is descended primarily from the wild cat of Africa and extreme southwestern Asia. Though probably present in towns in Palestine as long ago as 7000 years, actual domestication occurred in Egypt about 4000 years ago. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 6th ed, p801) Felis catus,Felis domesticus,Domestic Cats,Felis domestica,Felis sylvestris catus,Cat,Cat, Domestic,Cats, Domestic,Domestic Cat
D002540 Cerebral Cortex The thin layer of GRAY MATTER on the surface of the CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES that develops from the TELENCEPHALON and folds into gyri and sulci. It reaches its highest development in humans and is responsible for intellectual faculties and higher mental functions. Allocortex,Archipallium,Cortex Cerebri,Cortical Plate,Paleocortex,Periallocortex,Allocortices,Archipalliums,Cerebral Cortices,Cortex Cerebrus,Cortex, Cerebral,Cortical Plates,Paleocortices,Periallocortices,Plate, Cortical
D004594 Electrophysiology The study of the generation and behavior of electrical charges in living organisms particularly the nervous system and the effects of electricity on living organisms.
D005583 Fourier Analysis Analysis based on the mathematical function first formulated by Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier in 1807. The function, known as the Fourier transform, describes the sinusoidal pattern of any fluctuating pattern in the physical world in terms of its amplitude and its phase. It has broad applications in biomedicine, e.g., analysis of the x-ray crystallography data pivotal in identifying the double helical nature of DNA and in analysis of other molecules, including viruses, and the modified back-projection algorithm universally used in computerized tomography imaging, etc. (From Segen, The Dictionary of Modern Medicine, 1992) Fourier Series,Fourier Transform,Analysis, Cyclic,Analysis, Fourier,Cyclic Analysis,Analyses, Cyclic,Cyclic Analyses,Series, Fourier,Transform, Fourier
D000704 Analysis of Variance A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable. ANOVA,Analysis, Variance,Variance Analysis,Analyses, Variance,Variance Analyses

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