Functional Architecture of Area 17 in Normal and Monocularly Deprived Macaque Monkeys (original) (raw)

1. D. H. Hubel,
2. T. N. Wiesel, and
3. S. LeVay
4. Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Excerpt

The primary visual cortex of higher mammals is known to carry out two main functions. The inputs from the lateral geniculate body are regrouped in such a way that line segments in specific orientations become the most effective stimuli (Hubel and Wiesel 1959), and it is here that one finds the first important convergence of signals from the two eyes (Hubel and Wiesel 1962).

In the macaque monkey, both of these functions take place over several distinct stages. Cells of the first stage are found in layer IVc, where the bulk of the geniculate afferents terminate. These cells are almost entirely monocular and, like geniculate cells, respond equally well to all line orientations (Hubel and Wiesel 1968). Simple cells, which form the next stage, are also found mostly (and perhaps entirely) in layer IV. They are also almost all monocular but are orientation-specific. Finally, complex and hypercomplex cells, in layers...