Ontogenesis of receptive fields in the rabbit striate cortex

Summary The responses of rabbit striate cortex neurons to light or optic nerve shock were tested in 633 units in 54 rabbit pups 3–25 days of age. Units were driven by optic nerve shock at the youngest ages tested, but could not be driven by light until postnatal day eight. It was found that the symmetric receptive field types (concentric, uniform, motion) were present at or near the time of eye opening (10–11 days), while the asymmetric types (directional, simple, complex, oriented-directional) did not appear until several days later. All adult receptive field types were first seen at day 18. Until about day 20, cells with indefinite response properties were much more numerous than in the adult, and it is suggested thab cells with asymmetric receptive fields may differentiate out of the indefinite group. Development of visual response in the striate cortex is markedly retarded when compared to that in the superior colliculus.