Functional organization of primary visual cortex in the mink (Mustela vison), and a comparison with the cat

Abstract

The functional organization of geniculocortical afferents and the visual responses of neurons in primary visual cortex (area 17) were studied in barbiturate-anesthetized, paralyzed minks and cats. Responses of the afferents were studied after silencing intrinsic cortical activity with injections of kainic acid. In both species, afferents were segregated into patches on the basis of eye of origin. In the mink, but not in the cat, there was a further segregation on the basis of center type, with on- and off-center afferents terminating in alternating, partially overlapping patches. The visual responses of cortical neurons in the mink showed many similarities to those in the cat. Nearly all units were orientation-selective, and there was a columnar organization for preferred orientation. Many units were selective for one direction of movement. Within the binocular segment of cortex, although many units could be driven from either eye, there was a marked bias toward the contralateral eye compared to the cat. There was a columnar system for ocular dominance, but contralateral eye columns were wider than ipsilateral. In both species, a quantitative study was made of the responses of cortical neurons to stationary, flashing slits as a function of position in the receptive field. In the mink, and less clearly in the cat, units could be identified as simple or complex on the basis of the spatial separation or overlap of "on" and "off" discharge zones. In both species, simple cells were found most commonly in layers IV and VI, while layer V contained the greatest proportion of complex cells. The relative strengths of the on and off discharges of single cells were also measured. In the mink, many units gave better overall responses to the on or off phase of the stimulus, and 15% showed a strong (greater than 9:1) preference for one or the other, compared to 4% in the cat. In the mink, units with a common preference for the on or off phase of stationary stimuli were arranged in columnar aggregates, a feature of cortical organization that was not found in the cat. These columns probably result from the partial segregation of on-center and off-center geniculate afferents within layers IV and VI of the mink's cortex. On-dominated columns were, however, wider or more numerous than off-dominated columns.