Simple and complex visual motion response properties in the anterior medial bank of the lateral suprasylvian cortex

Abstract

The cortical regions surrounding the suprasylvian sulcus have previously been associated with motion processing. Of the six areas originally described by Palmer et al. [J Comp Neurol 177 (1978) 237], the posteromedial lateral suprasylvian (PMLS) cortex has attracted the greatest attention. Very little physiological information is available concerning other suprasylvian visual areas, and in particular, the anteromedial lateral suprasylvian cortex (AMLS). Based on its cortical and sub-cortical connectivity patterns, the AMLS cortex is a likely candidate for higher-order motion processing in cat visual cortex. We have investigated this possibility by studying the receptive field sensitivity of AMLS neurons to complex motion stimuli. Neurons in AMLS cortex exhibited large (mean of 354° 2) and complex-like receptive fields, and most of them (74%) were classified as direction selective on the basis of their responses to sinusoidal drifting gratings. Most importantly, direction selectivity was present for complex motion stimuli. A subset of the neurons sampled (eight of 38 cells; 21%) exhibited pattern-motion selectivity in response to moving plaid patterns. The capacity of AMLS neurons to signal higher-order stimuli was further supported by their selectivity to moving complex random-dot kinematograms. Finally, 45% of 20 neurons were direction selective to a radial optic flow stimulus. Overall, these results suggest that AMLS cortex is involved in higher-order analyses of visual motion. It is possible that the AMLS cortex represents a region between PMLS and the anterior ectosylvian visual area in a functional hierarchy of areas involved in motion integration.