RECEPTIVE FIELDS OF CELLS IN STRIATE CORTEX OF VERY YOUNG, VISUALLY INEXPERIENCED KITTENS.

IN A SERIES OF STUDIES on the cat over the past 5 years we have recorded from single cells in the striate cortex and mapped receptive fields using patterned retinal stimulation. The results suggest that connections between geniculate and striate cortex, and between cortical cells, must be highly specific (5). Indeed, cells in the striate cortex respond in such a characteristic way that departures from the normal adult physiology should be easily recognizable. In the present study we have made similar experiments in kittens ranging in age from l-3 weeks. Our purpose was to learn the age at which cortical cells have normal, adult-type receptive fields, and to find out whether such fields exist even in animals that have had no patterned visual stimulation.