Energy summation in lateral geniculate postsynaptic responses and optic tract spike responses to large light flashes

Abstract

Recordings were made from the lateral geniculate nucleus and optic tract in cats. The intensity and duration of a diffuse light was varied in a manner which allowed the recording of equivalent responses to equal energy pairs of stimuli. Estimates made from these data indicated that the period of energy summation was much longer for the optic tract than for the lateral geniculate responses. The human psychophysical literature was consulted, and the lateral geniculate responses were found to parallel estimates of energy summation measured by means of a brightness matching task.