Developmentof the

Visual System

Lettvin, J.Y., Maturana, H.R., McCulloch, W.S. & Pitts, W.H. (1959) What the frog's eye tells the frog's brain. Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers, 47, 1940-1951.

Pomeranz, B. & Chung, S.H. (1970) Dendritic-tree anatomy codesform-vision physiology in tadpole retina . Science, 170, 983-984

Receptive FieldsRetina

+

-

-

+

+

-

-+

+

LGN

+-

-

+-

-

V1

+-

-

a b c d e f g a b c d e f g baseball 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 hot dog 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 grandma 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 apple pie 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 football 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 soccer ball 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 tennis ball 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

AggregatePattern

FeatureDetection

a b c d e f g a b c d e f g baseball 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 hot dog 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 grandma 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 apple pie 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 football 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 soccer ball 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 tennis ball 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

AggregatePattern

FeatureDetection

 

How does this system come to be?

I.e., what role does stimulation play in its maturation?

1. induction

2. facilitation of rate

3. enhancement of ultimate level

4. maintenance

EnvironmentDependent

EnvironmentExpectant

Sur, Garraghty &Roe (1988) Science, 242, 1437-1441.

Sharma, J. Angelucci, A. & Sur, M. (2000) Induction of visual orientation modules in auditory cortex.Nature, 404, 841-847.

NOsynthase

NO

Guanylyl cyclasecGMP

Held, R. & Hein, A. (1963) Movement-produced stimulation in the development of visually –guided behavior. J. Comp. Physiol. Psych. 56, 872-876.

Tees, R.C., (1974) Effect of visual deprivation on development of depth perception in the rat. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 86, 300-308.