FUNCTIONAL CIRCUITRY OF COMPLEX CELLS IN VISUAL CORTEX

猫视觉皮层内的神经元表现出多种多样的接受性， 字段属性。 这种功能多样性主要来自于 丘脑和皮质输入之间的相互作用， 电路基本上是未知的。 在这份报告中，两个不同的 采取的方法来研究电路的反应， II-III层中的复杂细胞。 首先，互相关，评估 当从层II-III、层IV和丘脑记录时， 来检查皮质和/或丘脑对复杂细胞的输入。 第二，在外侧膝状体中形成小的可逆性阻滞 核（LGN）研究不同丘脑通路的贡献 产生复杂的感受野。 根据 连接的层次模型，复杂的感受野 细胞起源于第四层简单细胞的会聚输入。 这项提议的一个主要目标是检查由 这个模型并研究不同类型输入的作用， 皮层和丘脑，在复杂的感受野的产生。 对视觉皮层细胞之间联系的研究 重要的是要了解神经系统如何从大脑中提取信息。 外界 只有通过对大脑皮层的详细了解 神经系统紊乱，如多种形式的弱视， 明白

Neurons within the cat visual cortex show a great variety of receptive field properties. This functional diversity emerges mainly from interactions between thalamic and corticocortical inputs whose precise circuitry is largely unknown. In this proposal, two different approaches are taken to study the circuitry underlying the responses of complex cells in layer II-III. First, cross correlations, evaluated while recording from layer II-III, layer IV and the thalamus, are used to examine the cortical and/or thalamic inputs to complex cells. Second, small reversible blockades are made in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) to study the contribution of different thalamic pathways to the generation of complex receptive fields. According to a hierarchical model of connectivity, the receptive fields of complex cells originates from the convergent inputs of layer IV simple cells. A major goal of this proposal is to examine the circuitry predicted by this model and investigate the role of different types of inputs, cortical and thalamic, in the generation of complex receptive fields. The study of the connections made by cells in the visual cortex is important to understand how neural systems extract information from the outside world. Only by such detailed knowledge of the cortical circuitry can neural disorders, such as many forms of amblyopia, be understood.