Summary
In unanesthetized rhesus monkeys, visual evoked responses were recorded and averaged from epidural electrodes over striate, prestriate, inferotemporal and frontal cortex before and after unilateral striate lesions, unilateral optic tract section and unilateral inferotemporal lesions. The early wavelets seen in the striate and prestriate responses were eliminated only by ipsilateral optic tract section or ipsilateral striate lesions. The slower components of the striate responses were drastically reduced by ipsilateral optic tract section. Contralateral optic tract section and striate ablation also reduced the amplitude of these components, but to a lesser extent. Whereas ipsilateral optic tract section markedly reduced the amplitude of the inferotemporal response, the most striking effect of ipsilateral striate ablation on this response was a reduction in its variability. The inferotemporal lesion had no effect on the striate responses. The results are related to the problems of visual input to cerebral cortex, the functions of the inferotemporal cortex and the effects of occipital damage in man.
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This research was begun in the Department of Psychology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was supported by N.I.H. Grants MH-05673, MH-06723, MH-6418, HD-01907 and 1-K3-NB-31,816, N.S.F. Grants GB 4104 and GB 6999, N.A.S.A. Grant NsG-496 and grants to M.I.T. from the Hartford and Rockefeller Foundations. We thank Professor H.-L. xxTeuber for helpful discussions, Prof. W.J.H. xxNauta for performing the optic tract sections, Miss L. xxRolnitsky for computer programming, R.C. xxHull for experimental assistance and Mrs. C.E. xxThomson for preparation of the brain sections.
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Vaughan, H.G., Gross, C.G. Cortical responses to light in unanesthetized monkeys and their alteration by visual system lesions. Exp Brain Res 8, 19–36 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234923
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234923