Characterization of spatial and temporal properties of monkey LGN Y-cells

Abstract

LGN Y-cells in 3 anaesthetized (N₂O/O₂) and paralyzed rhesus monkeys were investigated with stimuli, intensity modulated by gaussian white noise, and with moving and counterphase modulated spatial sine wave gratings. The results support the model, postulated on the base of electrophysiological recordings in the retina of cat and mudpuppy, which consists of a linear centre and surround mechanism whose responses are modified in a frequency-selective multiplicative way by a nonlinear mechanism in the receptive field. This nonlinear mechanism is also held responsible for the second-order harmonic responses, which are the defining characteristic of Y-cells. The temporal and spatial characteristics of these mechanisms were determined. The responses obtained with the GWN stimulation and with modulated spatial sine wave gratings both indicate that the optimal temporal frequency of the linear mechanisms is near 7 Hz at 70 td and near 5 Hz for the nonlinear mechanism. The optimal spatial frequency for the linear mechanism is between 0.5–2 cycles/deg and between 6–12 cycles/deg for the nonlinear mechanism.