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Modeling receptive-field structure of koniocellular, magnocellular, and parvocellular LGN cells in the owl monkey (Aotus trivigatus)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2003

XIANGMIN XU
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville
A.B. BONDS
Affiliation:
Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville
VIVIEN A. CASAGRANDE
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville

Abstract

Most cells in the retina and lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of primates have a concentric center/surround receptive-field organization. Details of the relationship between center and surround often can be used to predict how cells respond to visual stimuli. Models of the receptive-field organization and center/surround relationships also are useful when comparing cell classes. In the present study, we used the difference-of-Gaussians (DOG) model to quantitatively examine and compare the receptive-field center/surround organization of koniocellular (K), magnocellular (M), and parvocellular (P) LGN cells of owl monkeys. We obtained estimates of receptive-field center size (rc) and center sensitivity (Kc), and surround size (rs), and surround sensitivity (Ks) from 62 K, M, and P LGN cells by fitting their spatial-frequency responses with a DOG function (Rodieck, 1965; Croner & Kaplan, 1995). The DOG function not only accounted for the responses of P and M cells, but also provided a good description of K-cell responses. We found that at matched eccentricities of less than 15 deg, K cells had the largest rc and rs among the three cell classes. K cells also had the lowest Kc and Ks.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2002 Cambridge University Press

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