ON and OFF components of the receptive fields have different latencies to diffuse flashes of light in the superior colliculus of golden hamsters

Abstract

Single unit activities were recorded from the superior colliculus in anesthetized hamsters. ON center and OFF center cells without surround showed short (within 150 ms) and long latency (longer than 150 ms) responses to diffuse flashes of light, respectively; ON and OFF center cells with an antagonistic surround and ON-OFF center cells showed both short and long latency responses. We suggest that the short latency discharges represent the activity on the ON component of the receptive field, while the long latency responses correspond to the OFF component. Thus, latencies of unit response to diffuse flashes of light may provide a useful indication of the existence of ON or OFF components in the receptive field.