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Abstract:
This chapter talks about two investigations at the local and global organization of receptive field properties in the cat's lateral suprasylvian cortex (PMLS and PLLS) and of its principal thalamic relay, the lateral posterior nucleus (LPl and LPm). The chapter shows that LS and LP share a number of features in their receptive field organization. The most prominent local properties of single units in LS and in LP are their narrow directional and broad velocity tuning combined with strong binocular facilitation. A possible way of looking at the organization of neocortex in general and of the visual cortex in particular is to see the different areas in conjunction with their principal thalamic inputs. The two views are by no means mutually exclusive, but further testing in awake behaving animals could be useful in reaching a decision about their main emphases. Biologically, it is not surprising that a specialized system should exist for the detection of expanding velocity fields because these occur, for example, during forward locomotion and might be used to stabilize posture during stance.
