Characterization of receptive fields in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the tammar wallaby

Abstract

Orientation selectivity is a prominent feature of neurons in the mammalian primary visual cortex (V1), yet its emergence along the visual pathway varies across species. In carnivores and primates, neurons with elongated and orientation-selective receptive fields (RFs) emerge in V1, whereas in mice such RFs appear earlier, in the retina or dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN). Here, we investigate the RF properties of neurons in the dLGN of a marsupial, the wallaby (Macropus eugenii) (n = 2; males), using multichannel electrodes and nonlinear input model (NIM) analysis. Do dLGN RFs resemble those of carnivores and primates or exhibit unique characteristics, particularly regarding orientat..