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PubMed1993

Spatio-temporal frequency separability in area 18 neurons of the cat.

Spatial frequency tuning curves were obtained at a series of temporal frequencies and/or velocities from neurons of Areas 17 and 18 of the cat, in order to assess the interaction between these spatial and temporal parameters. In the great majority of instances, for neurons in both Areas 17 and 18, we found the optimal spatial frequency invariant with the temporal frequency or velocity at which a neuron was tested. Thus in this respect, responses of neurons in Area 18, like those of Area 17, are separable in their dependence on spatial and temporal frequency.

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PubMed1991

Optimal spatial displacement for direction selectivity in cat visual cortex neurons.

Responses of single neurons in cat visual cortex were measured in response to sinewave grating stimuli. Firstly, a neuron's spatial frequency tuning was determined, and subsequent stimuli were set at the optimal spatial frequency for that neuron. Then a "jumping grating" stimulus was used: a sinewave grating subjected to a series of abrupt spatial displacements, while remaining stationary for a fixed exposure time between displacements. The amount of direction selectivity elicited by this stimulus was measured as a function of the amount of spatial displacement. Visual cortex neurons generally showed an optimal spatial displacement, corresponding to somewhat less than one quarter of a spatial period of the neuron's optimal spatial frequency (close to, but systematically less than, "quadrature phase"). In a majority of neurons tested, this optimal displacement was not affected by increasing the exposure time between displacements, indicating that the measurements were not a simple consequence of temporal frequency tuning. These results closely parallel recent human psychophysical data obtained from measurements of motion aftereffect or direction discrimination elicited by jumping grating stimuli.

Animals↗