Spatio-temporal visual properties in the ascending tectofugal system

Our study compares the spatio-temporal visual receptive field properties of different subcortical stages of the ascending tectofugal visual system. Extracellular single-cell recordings were performed in the superficial (SCs) and intermediate (SCi) layers of the superior colliculus (SC), the suprageniculate nucleus (Sg) of the posterior thalamus and the caudate nucleus (CN) of halothane-anesthetized cats. Neuronal responses to drifting gratings of various spatial and temporal frequencies were recorded. The neurons of each structure responded optimally to low spatial and high temporal frequencies and displayed narrow spatial and temporal frequency tuning. The detailed statistical analysis revealed that according to its stimulus preferences the SCs has markedly different spatio-temporal properties from the homogeneous group formed by the SCi, Sg and CN. The SCs neurons preferred higher spatial and lower temporal frequencies and had broader spatial tuning than the other structures. In contrast to the SCs the visually active SCi, as well as the Sg and the CN neurons possessed consequently similar spatio-temporal preferences. These data support our hypothesis that the visually active SCi, Sg and CN neurons form a homogeneous neuronal population given a similar spatio-temporal frequency preference and a common function in processing of dynamic visual information.