NEURONS WITH VISUAL PROPERTIES IN POSTERIOR GROUP OF THALAMIC NUCLEI

Unit activities of neurons in the posterior group of the thalamic nuclei (PO) were recorded in response to stimulation of the ipsilateral optic tract. These neurons were found to be situated in the upper half of PO. The response latencies of the neurons to stimulation of the optic tract were distributed a wide range, 1-15 msec, and the scatter of latencies may indicate the presence of a variety of synaptic connections of neurons with the visual pathway. Synaptic transmission was highly dependent on reticular activity. Most of the neurons in PO had large receptive fields which usually showed eccentricities in the visual field. A small light spot illuminated in any part of the receptive field evoked an on-off" type of response. © 1969."