Spatial structure of neuronal receptive field in awake monkey secondary visual cortex (V2)
Contributed by Mu-ming Poo, January 6, 2016 (sent for review October 12, 2015; reviewed by Judith Hirsch and Doris Y. Tsao)
Significance
Using a computational method to analyze neuronal responses evoked by natural scene stimuli, we performed a comprehensive identification of secondary visual cortex (V2) neuronal receptive fields (RFs) and found several novel spatial structures of RFs. This approach imposes no assumption about the selectivity of the neurons, thus allowing a more objective search of RFs. Furthermore, by combining single-unit recording with optical imaging of intrinsic signals, we examined the spatial distribution of V2 neurons exhibiting different RFs, with respect to the V2 stripes defined previously by cytochrome oxidase staining. The identified V2 RFs could be explained by convergence of V1 neurons with well-known primary visual cortex RFs. This study illustrates that computational approach is useful for comprehensive RF identification in higher visual cortices.
Abstract
Visual processing depends critically on the receptive field (RF) properties of visual neurons. However, comprehensive characterization of RFs beyond the primary visual cortex (V1) remains a challenge. Here we report fine RF structures in secondary visual cortex (V2) of awake macaque monkeys, identified through a projection pursuit regression analysis of neuronal responses to natural images. We found that V2 RFs could be broadly classified as V1-like (typical Gabor-shaped subunits), ultralong (subunits with high aspect ratios), or complex-shaped (subunits with multiple oriented components). Furthermore, single-unit recordings from functional domains identified by intrinsic optical imaging showed that neurons with ultralong RFs were primarily localized within pale stripes, whereas neurons with complex-shaped RFs were more concentrated in thin stripes. Thus, by combining single-unit recording with optical imaging and a computational approach, we identified RF subunits underlying spatial feature selectivity of V2 neurons and demonstrated the functional organization of these RF properties.
Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Yunqing Wen, Dr. Hou Xu, Dr. Xiaodong Chen, Junjie Cai, Dr. Shude Zhu, Dr. Peichao Li, and Dr. Yu-Xi Fu for technical support and Dr. Haishan Yao and Dr. Wei Wang for comments. This work was supported by grants from Ministry of Science and Technology (973 Program, 2011CBA00400) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Strategic Priority Research Program, XDB02020001).
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Published online: February 2, 2016
Published in issue: February 16, 2016
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Acknowledgments
We thank Dr. Yunqing Wen, Dr. Hou Xu, Dr. Xiaodong Chen, Junjie Cai, Dr. Shude Zhu, Dr. Peichao Li, and Dr. Yu-Xi Fu for technical support and Dr. Haishan Yao and Dr. Wei Wang for comments. This work was supported by grants from Ministry of Science and Technology (973 Program, 2011CBA00400) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (Strategic Priority Research Program, XDB02020001).
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The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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