Binocular Neurons in Parastriate Cortex: Interocular ‘Matching’ of Receptive Field Properties, Eye Dominance and Strength of Silent Suppression

Spike-responses of single binocular neurons were recorded from a distinct part of primary visual cortex, the parastriate cortex (cytoarchitectonic area 18) of anaesthetized and immobilized domestic cats. Functional identification of neurons was based on the ratios of phase-variant (F1) component to the mean firing rate (F0) of their spike-responses to optimized (orientation, direction, spatial and temporal frequencies and size) sine-wave-luminance-modulated drifting grating patches presented separately via each eye. In over 95% of neurons, the interocular differences in the phase-sensitivities (differences in F1/F0 spike-response ratios) were small (≤0.3) and in over 80% of neurons, the interocular differences in preferred orientations were ≤10°. The interocular correlations of the direction selectivity indices and optimal spatial frequencies, like those of the phase sensitivies and optimal orientations, were also strong (coefficients of correlation r ≥0.7005). By contrast, the interocular correlations of the optimal temporal frequencies, the diameters of summation areas of the excitatory responses and suppression indices were weak (coefficients of correlation r ≤0.4585). In cells with high eye dominance indices (HEDI cells), the mean magnitudes of suppressions evoked by stimulation of silent, extra-classical receptive fields via the non-dominant eyes, were significantly greater than those when the stimuli were presented via the dominant eyes. We argue that the well documented ‘eye-origin specific’ segregation of the lateral geniculate inputs underpinning distinct eye dominance columns in primary visual cortices of mammals with frontally positioned eyes (distinct eye dominance columns), combined with significant interocular differences in the strength of silent suppressive fields, putatively contribute to binocular stereoscopic vision.