Binocular Visual Experience Research Articles

Visual experience as a determinant of the response characteristics of cortical receptive fields in cats.

Cats reared with their visual world restricted to vertical lines for one eye and horizontal lines for the other had, in their visual cortices, units with elongated receptive fields that were either vertically or horizontally oriented. These receptive fields could be mapped only using that eye which had seen lines of the same orientation during development. Other units had diffuse, unresponsive receptive fields (Hirsch and Spinelli, 1970). Six cats, from the group above, were revived and allowed normal binocular viewing in an attempt to determine the possibility and extent of adding other types of receptive fields by giving other experiences to their visual systems. After exposure to a normal environment for up to 19 months it was found that indeed there had been a massive increase in the percentage of those classes of receptive fields that were either absent or weak at the end of the selective visual experience. Significantly, these receptive fields, acquired during binocular viewing, were very often binocular. The results, however, show that units whose response characteristics mimic the stimuli viewed during development were almost completely unaffected by normal binocular visual experience, i. e., they were monocularly activated and had the orientation appropriate for the stimuli viewed by the eye from which they could be mapped. Most impressive are a few units whose receptive field shape is almost a carbon copy of the pattern viewed during development. The data provide evidence that visual experience has a direct continuing and lasting effect on the functional connectivity of cells in the visual cortex.

A new coordination test of visual-motor deprived visually experienced cats

Cats with extensive binocular visual experience but with only monocular visual-motor experience were found to have visual-motor deficits in both deprived and experienced eyes when tested on a new apparatus requiring smooth negotiation of a series of barriers.

A new coordination test of visual-motor deprived visually experienced cats

Cats with extensive binocular visual experience but with only monocular visual-motor experience were found to have visual-motor deficits in both deprived and experienced eyes when tested on a new apparatus requiring smooth negotiation of a series of barriers.

Convergence function in binocular visual space. I. A note on theory.

A review and elucidation of the theory of the convergence function is presented here. In this connection, certain phenomenal aspects of binocular visual experience are noted; it is felt that any general theory must take cognizance of them. In particular, the Luneburg theory of the alley experiments is discussed in some detail, and an attempt is made to highlight the underlying and possibly equivocal assumptions. In emphasizing the distinction between pure mathematical postulates and pure phenomenal experience, we have hoped both to clarify those points at which arbitrary decisions may legitimately enter into the theory (e.g., the normalization), and to set the stage for deliberate experimentation.

LUNEBURG THEORY OF VISUAL GEODESICS IN BINOCULAR SPACE PERCEPTION

To the Editor: —The recent article by Paul Squires (A. M. A.Arch. Ophth.56:288-297, 1956) is, we believe, of some interest, but certain points do need clarification. The Luneburg theory was developed to describe only certain aspects of binocular visual experience, those associated with the purely geometric properties of size and location of objects. The use of small point sources of light in an otherwise totally dark room is an experimental design appropriate to the Luneburg theory. Though Squires' use of small black dots in a diffusely illuminated room could certainly represent an important experiment in its own right, it is not an experimental design appropriate to the Luneburg theory. In this instance, extraneous visual clues are introduced which the theory does not attempt to account for—among other things, color and brightness of objects and, especially, the configuration of the room itself. Such a configuration, possessing rich monocular