Summary
The lateral geniculate body performs a spatial remapping operation. This remapping may help to preserve the apparent distance of objects under symmetrical eye movements, thereby stabilizing the appearance of visual space. In addition, a related, and perhaps more basic function of the geniculate remapping may be to increase the efficiency of the neural matrix which encodes depth information. For distant fixation, the majority of cells in this cortical matrix would be responsive to crossed disparities, but for near fixation, many of these same cells might be converted into “uncrossed disparity detectors”. Two types of models for the geniculate are presented, together with supporting evidence: (1) a quantitative psychophysical model describing its steady-state properties, and (2) a qualitative neurophysiological model describing the function of the geniculate laminae.
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This work was supported by the U.S. Air Force under contract No. AFORSR-F 44620-67-C0085. Supplementary funding was received from NASA and NIMH under grants Ns G 496 and MH 05673 awarded to Prof. H.-L. Teuber, Chairman, Dept. of Psychology, M. I. T., Cambridge, Mass.
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Richards, W. Spatial remapping in the primate visual system. Kybernetik 4, 146–156 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288548
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288548