Rabbit Lateral Geniculate Nucleus: Sharpener of Directional Information

Abstract

Direction-selective neurons in the rabbit lateral geniculate nucleus signal movement-direction more precisely than their retinal counterparts. This increased selectivity arises from the interaction of retinal inputs to the geniculate cell. A direction-selective geniculate neuron is fed by at least two retinal direction-selective cells, whose preferred directions are 180 degrees apart. One retinal input is excitatory to the geniculate cell and the other is inhibitory.