Specialized receptive fields of the cat's retina

Abstract

Three new types of receptive field have been found in the cat's retina. The responses of these fields to flashing lights and moving objects suggest that the manner in which they code visual information may be quite different from that of the center-surround fields described in previous studies. These "specialized" fields were all found in the area centralis. A definite functional difference, corresponding to the known anatomical difference, between this region and the rest of the retina, is suggested.