Receptive‐field properties of V1 and V2 neurons in mice and macaque monkeys

Abstract

We report the results of extracellular single-unit recording experiments where we quantitatively analyzed the receptive-field (RF) properties of neurons in V1 and an adjacent extrastriate visual area (V2L) of anesthetized mice with emphasis on the RF center-surround organization. We compared the results with the RF center-surround organization of V1 and V2 neurons in macaque monkeys. If species differences in spatial scale are taken into consideration, mouse V1 and V2L neurons had remarkably fine stimulus selectivity, and the majority of response properties in V2L were not different from those in V1. The RF center-surround organization of mouse V1 neurons was qualitatively similar to that for macaque monkeys (i.e., the RF center is surrounded by extended suppressive regions). However, unlike in monkey V2, a significant proportion of cortical neurons, largely complex cells in V2L, did not exhibit quantifiable RF surround suppression. Simple cells had smaller RF centers than complex cells, and the prevalence and strength of surround suppression were greater in simple cells than in complex cells. These findings, particularly on the RF center-surround organization of visual cortical neurons, give new insights into the principles governing cortical circuits in the mouse visual cortex and should provide further impetus for the use of mice in studies on the genetic and molecular basis of RF development and synaptic plasticity.

Distinct Functional Properties of Primary and Posteromedial Visual Area of Mouse Neocortex

“…Analyzing the dependence of TF tuning on the SF of drifting gratings, we found a higher number of speed-tuned neurons in V1 (20%) compared with PM (12%). Our results for SF and TF tuning are similar to previous reports in V1 (Niell and Stryker, 2008;Gao et al, 2010;Van den Bergh et al, 2010;Andermann et al, 2011;Marshel et al, 2011). Two recent publications have investigated spatiotemporal tuning properties of PM (Andermann et al, 2011;Marshel et al, 2011).…”

Multiple components of surround modulation in primary visual cortex: Multiple neural circuits with multiple functions?

“…the stimuli simultaneously present in the RF surround. This property, initially attributed by Hubel and Wiesel (1965) to a special class of cells in the primary visual cortex (V1) of cats (which they termed “hypercomplex”), has now been described for most cells in V1 of many species, ranging from mouse (Van den Bergh et al, 2010) to cat (Blakemore & Tobin, 1972; Gilbert, 1977; Maffei & Fiorentini, 1976; Nelson & Frost, 1978; Sengpiel, Sen, & Blakemore, 1997; Walker, Ohzawa, & Freeman, 2000) and monkey (Cavanaugh, Bair, & Movshon, 2002a; Knierim & Van Essen, 1992; Sceniak, Hawken, & Shapley, 2001; Shushruth et al, 2009). Surround modulation and analogous phenomena have also been described throughout the visual system (e.g.…”

The Stabilized Supralinear Network: A Unifying Circuit Motif Underlying Multi-Input Integration in Sensory Cortex

“…Surround suppression has been observed in multiple cortical areas, including V1 and V2 in cats (Anderson et al, 2001; Ozeki et al, 2009; Sengpiel et al, 1997; Song and Li, 2008; Tanaka and Ohzawa, 2009; Vanni and Casanova, 2013; Wang et al, 2009), mice (Adesnik et al, 2012; Nienborg et al, 2013; Van den Bergh et al, 2010), and monkeys (Cavanaugh et al, 2002a,b; Sceniak et al, 1999; Schwabe et al, 2010; Shushruth et al, 2009; Van den Bergh et al, 2010), monkey visual areas V4 (Sundberg et al, 2009), MT (Tsui and Pack, 2011), LIP (Falkner et al, 2010) and motor area frontal eye fields (Cavanaugh et al, 2012), and areas serving other sensory modalities ( e.g. , Sachdev et al, 2012).…”