Single-unit analysis of pattern-motion selective properties in the middle temporal visual area (MT) (original) (raw)
Summary
The middle temporal visual area (MT) in macaque extrastriate cortex is characterized by a high proportion of neurons selective for the direction of stimulus motion, and is thus thought to play an important role in motion perception. Previous studies identified a population of cells in MT that appeared capable of coding the motion of whole visual patterns independent of the motions of contours within them (Gizzi et al. 1983; Movshon et al. 1985). These “pattern-motion selective” neurons are unlike motion sensitive cells that have been observed at earlier stages of the visual system. Using very different criteria, we have also previously indentified an apparently functionally distinct group of MT neurons (Albright 1984). We predicted that these “Type II” neurons correspond to the pattern-motion neurons. In the present study, we have applied both sets of criteria to individual neurons in MT and found that these two differently defined sets of cells actually form the same population. These results support the idea that MT contributes to a specialized type of motion processing which reflects the integrity of normal perception.
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Author notes
- T. D. Albright
Present address: The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, P.O. Box 85800, 92138, San Diego, CA, USA
Authors and Affiliations
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, 08544, Princeton, NJ, USA
H. R. Rodman & T. D. Albright
Authors
- H. R. Rodman
- T. D. Albright
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Rodman, H.R., Albright, T.D. Single-unit analysis of pattern-motion selective properties in the middle temporal visual area (MT).Exp Brain Res 75, 53–64 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00248530
- Received: 04 January 1988
- Accepted: 19 September 1988
- Issue date: March 1989
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00248530