Inverted vision surgically induced in experienced cats: physiology of the primary cortex

Abstract

The physiological effects of inversion of vision were studied in the visual cortex of five adult cats following 180 degrees surgical rotation of one eye for 2-3 months. The other eye was closed in order to prevent binocular conflicting visual input in the period between eye inversion and unit recording. The distribution of neurons according to their ocular dominance was very slightly different from that of normal cats. The retinotopic map was stable in that respect that receptive fields were spatially located in their expected position in accordance with the inversion induced; they reversed positions when maps of the two eyes were compared. Directional selectivity was also preserved; the preferred directions of binocularly activated units were found to be in opposition when responses from the normal and the inverted eyes were compared.