Binocular neurons which signal change of disparity in area 18 of cat visual cortex.

Abstract

BINOCULARLY activated neurones which seem to play a specific role in the detection of retinal image disparity have been described for both cat and monkey visual cortex1–6. The receptive field properties are such that for a given position of the eyes, each neurone will respond to an optimally oriented, moving line only if there is a particular disparity between the images of that line on each retina. As most of the receptive field disparities have a horizontal component, the response is related to movement of the line in a plane at a particular distance. If the plane of the optimally oriented stimulus is moved so it is effectively closer or further from the animal, there is a sharp decrease in the binocular response of the neurone, often to levels below the response to one eye alone4,5. Most of the disparity-specific neurones so far described1–6 are maximally responsive when the disparity is constant, at some particuar value, and cease to respond well when the disparity is changed from that value.