Visual responses of area 18 neurons in awake, behaving monkey

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Abstract
Visual responses of area 18 neurons were studied in the awake, behaving monkey. Cells were divided into 6 different classes on the basis of their stimulus preferences and spatial characteristics. Orientation cells were sensitive to the orientation of elongated stimuli. Color cells had nonoriented receptive fields with spatially coextensive opponent color inputs. Border cells responded best to a stimulus that filled an excitatory region without encroaching on a powerful suppressive flank. Direction cells preferred moving stimuli, giving the greatest response to movement in some direction and no response or inhibition to movement in the opposite direction. Spot cells preferred a properly positioned small spot of light and responded equally well to all directions of stimulus movement. Light-inhibited cells had high maintained spontaneous activity that was reduced or abolished by light. Most cells responded as well to monocular stimulation through either eye as to binocular stimulation; some orientation cells greatly preferred binocular stimulation. Independent classes of cells in area 18 perform qualitatively different analyses of incoming visual information.