Topology of ON and OFF inputs in visual cortex enables an invariant columnar architecture.

ABSTRACT: Circuits in the visual cortex integrate the information derived from separate ON (light-responsive) and OFF (dark-responsive) pathways to construct orderly columnar representations of stimulus orientation and visual space. How this transformation is achieved to meet the specific topographic constraints of each representation remains unclear. Here we report several novel features of ON-OFF convergence visualized by mapping the receptive fields of layer 2/3 neurons in the tree shrew (Tupaia belangeri) visual cortex using two-photon imaging of GCaMP6 calcium signals. We show that the spatially separate ON and OFF subfields of simple cells in layer 2/3 exhibit topologically distinct relationships with the maps of visual space and orientation preference. The centres of OFF subfields for neurons

SUBMITTER: Lee KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5350615 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature