Skip to main content
PMC home page
The Journal of Physiology logoLink to The Journal of Physiology
. 1981 Feb;311:623–655. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1981.sp013608

A comparison of binocular depth mechanisms in areas 17 and 18 of the cat visual cortex

David Ferster 1,*
PMCID: PMC1275433  PMID: 7264985

Abstract

1. The retinal disparity sensitivity of neurones in areas 17 and 18 of the cat visual cortex was examined. The response of each cell to an optimally oriented slit was measured as disparity was varied orthogonally to the receptive field orientation. Eye movements were monitored with a binocular reference cell simultaneously recorded in area 17 (Hubel & Wiesel, 1970).

2. Two types of disparity-sensitive cells were found, similar to those observed in the monkey by Poggio & Fischer (1977). The first type, tuned excitatory cells, were usually binocular and had a sharp peak in their disparity—response curve. They responded maximally at the disparity that brought their receptive fields into superposition on the tangent screen. This disparity closely coincided with the disparity at which the reference cell's receptive fields were also superimposed. By analogy with the monkey this point was taken to be the fixation point, or 0°. The second type, near and far cells, were most often monocular. They gave their weakest response (which was usually no response at all) at 0°. On one side of 0° the response grew linearly for up to 4° and then remained at the maximum. On the other side of zero, it remained at the minimum for up to several degrees before rising towards the maximum.

3. The receptive field organization of several disparity-sensitive cells was examined using the activity profile method of Henry, Bishop & Coombs (1969). The size and strength of the discrete excitatory and inhibitory regions of the receptive fields of a cell could quantitatively account for the shape of its disparity—response curve.

4. The laminar distribution of disparity sensitivity as well as of several other receptive field properties in areas 17 and 18 was studied. The organization of the two areas was remarkably similar in many respects. There was a difference, however, in the proportions of the two types of disparity-sensitive cells in the two areas. Area 17 contained many more tuned excitatory cells than near and far cells, while area 18 had the reverse distribution. In addition, the cells in area 18 were sensitive to a much broader range of disparities. While both areas contain disparity-sensitive neurones, these differences suggest that they play different roles in depth vision.

5. Recent psychophysical and neurophysiological evidence has led to a new model of stereopsis in which depth is signalled by the pooled activity of large groups of cells (Richards, 1971). The current results are consistent with this model.

Full text

PDF
623

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barlow H. B., Blakemore C., Pettigrew J. D. The neural mechanism of binocular depth discrimination. J Physiol. 1967 Nov;193(2):327–342. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1967.sp008360. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bishop P. O., Coombs J. S., Henry G. H. Interaction effects of visual contours on the discharge frequency of simple striate neurones. J Physiol. 1971 Dec;219(3):659–687. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009682. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bishop P. O., Coombs J. S., Henry G. H. Receptive fields of simple cells in the cat striate cortex. J Physiol. 1973 May;231(1):31–60. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1973.sp010218. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bishop P. O., Henry G. H., Smith C. J. Binocular interaction fields of single units in the cat striate cortex. J Physiol. 1971 Jul;216(1):39–68. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009508. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bishop P. O., Henry G. H., Smith C. J. Binocular interaction fields of single units in the cat striate cortex. J Physiol. 1971 Jul;216(1):39–68. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009508. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bishop P. O. Stereopsis and fusion. Trans Ophthalmol Soc N Z. 1974;26(0):17–27. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Blakemore C. The representation of three-dimensional visual space in the cat's striate cortex. J Physiol. 1970 Jul;209(1):155–178. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1970.sp009160. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Clarke P. G., Donaldson I. M., Whitteridge D. Binocular visual mechanisms in cortical areas I and II of the sheep. J Physiol. 1976 Apr;256(3):509–526. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1976.sp011336. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Cleland B. G., Dubin M. W., Levick W. R. Sustained and transient neurones in the cat's retina and lateral geniculate nucleus. J Physiol. 1971 Sep;217(2):473–496. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1971.sp009581. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Felton T. B., Richards W., Smith R. A., Jr Disparity processing of spatial frequencies in man. J Physiol. 1972 Sep;225(2):349–362. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1972.sp009944. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Ferster D., LeVay S. The axonal arborizations of lateral geniculate neurons in the striate cortex of the cat. J Comp Neurol. 1978 Dec 15;182(4 Pt 2):923–944. doi: 10.1002/cne.901820510. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fischer B., Krüger J. Disparity tuning and binocularity of single neurons in cat visual cortex. Exp Brain Res. 1979 Mar 9;35(1):1–8. doi: 10.1007/BF00236780. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Foley J. M., Applebaum T. H., Richards W. A. Stereopsis with large disparities: discrimination and depth magnitude. Vision Res. 1975 Mar;15(3):417–421. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(75)90091-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gilbert C. D., Kelly J. P. The projections of cells in different layers of the cat's visual cortex. J Comp Neurol. 1975 Sep;163(1):81–105. doi: 10.1002/cne.901630106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gilbert C. D. Laminar differences in receptive field properties of cells in cat primary visual cortex. J Physiol. 1977 Jun;268(2):391–421. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1977.sp011863. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Gilbert C. D., Wiesel T. N. Morphology and intracortical projections of functionally characterised neurones in the cat visual cortex. Nature. 1979 Jul 12;280(5718):120–125. doi: 10.1038/280120a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. HUBEL D. H., WIESEL T. N. RECEPTIVE FIELDS AND FUNCTIONAL ARCHITECTURE IN TWO NONSTRIATE VISUAL AREAS (18 AND 19) OF THE CAT. J Neurophysiol. 1965 Mar;28:229–289. doi: 10.1152/jn.1965.28.2.229. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. HUBEL D. H., WIESEL T. N. Receptive fields of single neurones in the cat's striate cortex. J Physiol. 1959 Oct;148:574–591. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1959.sp006308. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. HUBEL D. H., WIESEL T. N. Receptive fields, binocular interaction and functional architecture in the cat's visual cortex. J Physiol. 1962 Jan;160:106–154. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1962.sp006837. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Henry G. H., Bishop P. O., Coombs J. S. Inhibitory and sub-liminal excitatory receptive fields of simple units in cat striate cortex. Vision Res. 1969 Oct;9(10):1289–1296. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(69)90116-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Hubel D. H., Wiesel T. N. A re-examination of stereoscopic mechanisms in area 17 of the cat. J Physiol. 1973 Jul;232(1):29P–30P. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Hubel D. H., Wiesel T. N. Ferrier lecture. Functional architecture of macaque monkey visual cortex. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1977 Jul 28;198(1130):1–59. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1977.0085. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Hubel D. H., Wiesel T. N. Stereoscopic vision in macaque monkey. Cells sensitive to binocular depth in area 18 of the macaque monkey cortex. Nature. 1970 Jan 3;225(5227):41–42. doi: 10.1038/225041a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Jebb A. H., Woolsey T. A. A simple stain for myelin in frozen sections: a modification of Mahon's method. Stain Technol. 1977 Nov;52(6):315–318. doi: 10.3109/10520297709116805. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Joshua D. E., Bishop P. O. Binocular single vision and depth discrimination. Receptive field disparities for central and peripheral vision and binocular interaction on peripheral single units in cat striate cortex. Exp Brain Res. 1970;10(4):389–416. doi: 10.1007/BF02324766. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Kato H., Bishop P. O., Orban G. A. Hypercomplex and simple/complex cell classifications in cat striate cortex. J Neurophysiol. 1978 Sep;41(5):1071–1095. doi: 10.1152/jn.1978.41.5.1071. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. LeVay S., Ferster D. Relay cell classes in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat and the effects of visual deprivation. J Comp Neurol. 1977 Apr 15;172(4):563–584. doi: 10.1002/cne.901720402. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. LeVay S., Gilbert C. D. Laminar patterns of geniculocortical projection in the cat. Brain Res. 1976 Aug 20;113(1):1–19. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(76)90002-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. LeVay S., Hubel D. H., Wiesel T. N. The pattern of ocular dominance columns in macaque visual cortex revealed by a reduced silver stain. J Comp Neurol. 1975 Feb 15;159(4):559–576. doi: 10.1002/cne.901590408. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Marr D., Poggio T. A computational theory of human stereo vision. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1979 May 23;204(1156):301–328. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1979.0029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Marr D., Poggio T. Cooperative computation of stereo disparity. Science. 1976 Oct 15;194(4262):283–287. doi: 10.1126/science.968482. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Mayhew J. E., Frisby J. P. Rivalrous texture stereograms. Nature. 1976 Nov 4;264(5581):53–56. doi: 10.1038/264053a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Mitzdorf U., Singer W. Prominent excitatory pathways in the cat visual cortex (A 17 and A 18): a current source density analysis of electrically evoked potentials. Exp Brain Res. 1978 Nov 15;33(3-4):371–394. doi: 10.1007/BF00235560. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Movshon J. A., Thompson I. D., Tolhurst D. J. Spatial and temporal contrast sensitivity of neurones in areas 17 and 18 of the cat's visual cortex. J Physiol. 1978 Oct;283:101–120. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1978.sp012490. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Nelson J. I., Frost B. J. Orientation-selective inhibition from beyond the classic visual receptive field. Brain Res. 1978 Jan 13;139(2):359–365. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(78)90937-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Nikara T., Bishop P. O., Pettigrew J. D. Analysis of retinal correspondence by studying receptive fields of binocular single units in cat striate cortex. Exp Brain Res. 1968;6(4):353–372. doi: 10.1007/BF00233184. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. OTSUKA R., HASSLER R. [On the structure and segmentation of the cortical center of vision in the cat]. Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr Z Gesamte Neurol Psychiatr. 1962;203:212–234. doi: 10.1007/BF00352744. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Orban G. A., Callens M. Receptive field types of area 18 neurones in the cat. Exp Brain Res. 1977 Oct 24;30(1):107–123. doi: 10.1007/BF00237862. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Packwood J., Gordon B. Stereopsis in normal domestic cat, Siamese cat, and cat raised with alternating monocular occlusion. J Neurophysiol. 1975 Nov;38(6):1485–1499. doi: 10.1152/jn.1975.38.6.1485. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Palmer L. A., Rosenquist A. C. Visual receptive fields of single striate corical units projecting to the superior colliculus in the cat. Brain Res. 1974 Feb 15;67(1):27–42. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(74)90295-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Pettigrew J. D., Nikara T., Bishop P. O. Binocular interaction on single units in cat striate cortex: simultaneous stimulation by single moving slit with receptive fields in correspondence. Exp Brain Res. 1968;6(4):391–410. doi: 10.1007/BF00233186. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Pettigrew J. D., Nikara T., Bishop P. O. Responses to moving slits by single units in cat striate cortex. Exp Brain Res. 1968;6(4):373–390. doi: 10.1007/BF00233185. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Poggio G. F., Fischer B. Binocular interaction and depth sensitivity in striate and prestriate cortex of behaving rhesus monkey. J Neurophysiol. 1977 Nov;40(6):1392–1405. doi: 10.1152/jn.1977.40.6.1392. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Richards W. Anomalous stereoscopic depth perception. J Opt Soc Am. 1971 Mar;61(3):410–414. doi: 10.1364/josa.61.000410. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Rodieck R. W., Stone J. Analysis of receptive fields of cat retinal ganglion cells. J Neurophysiol. 1965 Sep;28(5):832–849. doi: 10.1152/jn.1965.28.5.833. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Shatz C. J., Lindström S., Wiesel T. N. The distribution of afferents representing the right and left eyes in the cat's visual cortex. Brain Res. 1977 Aug 5;131(1):103–116. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(77)90031-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Sherman S. M., Watkins D. W., Wilson J. R. Further differences in receptive field properties of simple and complex cells in cat striate cortex. Vision Res. 1976;16(9):919–927. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(76)90221-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Stone J., Dreher B. Projection of X- and Y-cells of the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus to areas 17 and 18 of visual cortex. J Neurophysiol. 1973 May;36(3):551–567. doi: 10.1152/jn.1973.36.3.551. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Tretter F., Cynader M., Singer W. Cat parastriate cortex: a primary or secondary visual area. J Neurophysiol. 1975 Sep;38(5):1099–1113. doi: 10.1152/jn.1975.38.5.1099. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Westheimer G. Cooperative neural processes involved in stereoscopic acuity. Exp Brain Res. 1979 Aug 1;36(3):585–597. doi: 10.1007/BF00238525. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Zeki S. M. Uniformity and diversity of structure and function in rhesus monkey prestriate visual cortex. J Physiol. 1978 Apr;277:273–290. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1978.sp012272. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. von der Heydt R., Adorjani C., Hänny P., Baumgartner G. Disparity sensitivity and receptive field incongruity of units in the cat striate cortex. Exp Brain Res. 1978 Apr 14;31(4):523–545. doi: 10.1007/BF00239810. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Physiology are provided here courtesy of The Physiological Society

RESOURCES