Visual field projection columns and magnification factors in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat

SummaryThe precision of the projection of the visual field to the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNd) of the cat was studied by plotting the receptive fields of single neurons recorded extra-cellularly in the nucleus. The concepts of a ‘projection column’ and of ‘random scatter in the location of receptive fields’ have been defined in relation to cells in the LGNd. A projection column contains 90% of all the cells in the LGNd that have receptive fields with a common visual direction, the central axis of the column being the projection line for the given visual direction. In the region of the LGNd devoted to central vision the columns have a circular cross section and are about 1 mm in diameter.The projections of adjacent areas of visual field (and hence of the retina) overlap extensively in the LGNd. In this study, the overlap of retinal afferents in the LGNd was measured in terms of the random scatter of receptive field positions for cells recorded in a given electrode penetration parallel to projection columns in the nucleus. The monocular receptive field scatter within a column in the LGNd is about of the same magnitude as both the monocular receptive field scatter within a cortical column and the binocular receptive field disparities of cortical units.The differential magnification of the visual field on the LGNd is a reflection of the ganglion cell density differences in the retina.

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