Innate and environmental factors in the development of the kitten's visual cortex.

TLDR

In deprived kittens younger than 3 weeks, some orientation‑selective neurons still exist. The study recorded receptive fields of 771 cortical cells from 25 kittens reared normally or under various visual deprivation and environmental manipulations. Kittens deprived of patterned visual experience exhibit a majority of neurons lacking orientation or motion specificity, yet some orientation‑selective cells are present, predominantly simple, monocular, and located mainly in deeper cortical layers, especially layer IV. Metadata and licensing information are provided.

Abstract

1. This is a study of the receptive fields of 771 cells recorded in the visual cortex of twenty-five kittens reared normally or subjected to various kinds of visual deprivation or environmental manipulation. 2. Kittens deprived of patterned visual experience, by dark rearing or diffuse occlusion of the eyes, have a majority of cirtical neurones with little or no specificity for the orientation or axis of movement of visual stimuli. However, in such deprived animals, especially those younger than 3 weeks, there are a number of genuinely orientation selective cells. They are broadly "turned" (by adult standards), they are almost always of the simple type, are heavily dominated by one eye, and are found mainly in the deeper layers of the cortex, especially layer IV. 3...