The receptive fields and topographical organization of goat retinal ganglion cells

Abstract

The receptive fields of 88 single units recorded from the goat optic tract have been investigated and found to be of three main classes; sustained (52 per cent), transient (35 per cent) and directional (5 per cent). The retinal ganglion cell density of the goat retina has been mapped and reveals the presence of both a circular area centralis and a visual streak. The positions of the recorded receptive fields in the visual space of the animal have been related to the retinal ganglion cell topography by means of observations on the optics of the goat eye. Sustained units were found to be more common than transient units in the neighbourhood of the area centralis (68%:22%) but the reverse was true elsewhere (30%:54%).