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Behavioral and electrophysiological sensitivity to temporally modulated visual stimuli in the ground squirrel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2009

Michael A. Crognale  and
Gerald H. Jacobs
Michael A. Crognale
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Gerald H. Jacobs
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara
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Abstract

Behavioral and electrophysiological methods were used to measure sensitivity to flickering lights in a dichromatic species, the California ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi). Discrimination tests were used to determine spectral sensitivity at stimulus frequencies from 5–50 Hz and increment threshold spectral sensitivity. The contributions of retinal mechanisms to these capacities were assessed by recording the responses of optic nerve fibers to temporally modulated monochromatic lights. In the ground squirrel, as in the human, the shape of the spectral-sensitivity function depends on the temporal frequency of the stimulus. Results from single-unit recording show that all of the classes of optic nerve fibers in the ground squirrel are highly phase-locked to the stimulus for modulation rates as high as 50 Hz. Neither the responses of photoreceptors nor any class of optic nerve fiber can singly account for the behavioral results. The electrophysiological results are also counter to models which propose that temporally dependent changes in the spectral sensitivity of spectrally opponent fibers account for the behavior. The temporal resolution of the optic nerve fibers exceeds that of the behaving animal suggesting that retinal mechanisms do not limit behavioral temporal resolution.

Keywords

FlickerSingle unitOptic nerveGanglion cellSpectrally opponentGround squirrel
Type
Research Articles
Information
Visual Neuroscience , Volume 6 , Issue 6 , June 1991 , pp. 593 - 606
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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