A quantitative analysis of the structure and the receptive field properties of the early visual system

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24500460
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neurophysiology and muscle physiology
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: SATO HIROMICHI 大阪大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (50154092)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SAWAI Hjime. 大阪大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 准教授 (20202103)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 初期視覚系 / 刺激文脈依存的反応修飾 / 網膜神経節細胞 / 外側膝状体 / 一次視覚野 / 古典的受容野 / 受容野周囲抑制 / 刺激特徴選択性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The response magnitudes of neurons in the early visual system, i.e., retina-LGN-V1, is modulated according to the figural-properties of visual stimuli within and outside the receptive field (contextual modulation). To clarify the circuit mechanism of the contextual modulation, I conducted electrophysiological analysis using anesthetized cats. The results are summarized as follows; 1)The contextual modulation started from the retina and became stronger in the further stages. 2) In the neural circuit showing a functional connection, exhibiting the firing correlation, neurons in the different processing stages shared similar stimulus-tuning properties for the modulation. And, 3) The results so far suggested both bottom-up and top-down mechanisms.

Free Research Field

視覚神経科学