Abstract
Theoretical analyses of the electrical behaviour of the highly branched processes of nerve cells has focused attention on the possibility that single cells perform, complex logical operations rather than simply summing their synaptic inputs1–3. In particular, it has been suggested that the orientation and direction selectivity of cells in the visual cortex result from the action of a nonlinear 'shunting' inhibition that emulates an AND–NOT logical operation4. The characteristic biophysical feature of this proposed inhibitory mechanism is that it evokes a large and relatively sustained increase in the conductance of the neuronal membrane while leaving the membrane potential unaffected. This shunting mechanism contrasts with linear 'summative' inhibition in which conductance changes are less prominent, and inhibition is achieved by hyperpolarization of the membrane potential1. In a direct experimental test of the hypothesis that the selectivity of visual cortical neurons depends on shunting inhibition we found no evidence for the large conductance changes predicted by the theory.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blomfield, S. Brain Res. 69, 115–124 (1974).
Koch, C., Poggio, T. & Torre, V. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 298, 227–264 (1982).
Swindale, N. V. Nature 303, 570–571 (1983).
Koch, C. & Poggio, T. in Models of the Visual Cortex (eds Rose, D. & Dobson, V. G.) 408–419 (Wiley, Chichester, 1985).
Rose, D. Expl. Brain Res. 28, 221–223 (1977).
Dean, A. F., Hess, R. F. & Tolhurst, D. J. J. Physiol. 236, 84P (1980).
Emerson, R. C., Citron, M. C. & Felleman, D. J. in Models of the Visual Cortex (eds Rose, D. & Dobson, V. G.) 420–431 (Wiley, Chichester, 1985).
Hubel, D. H. & Wiesel, T. N. J. Physiol. 160, 106–154 (1962).
Torre, V. & Poggio, T. Proc. R. Soc. B 202, 409–416 (1978).
Rose, D. & Blakemore, C. Nature 249, 375–377 (1974).
Sillito, A. M. J. Physiol. 250, 305–322 (1975).
Tsumoto, T., Eckhart, W. & Creutzfeldt, O. D. Expl. Brain Res. 34, 351–363 (1979).
Vidyasagar, T. R. & Heide, W. Neuroscience 17, 49–55 (1986).
Ribak, C. E. J. Neurocytol. 7, 461–478 (1978).
Freund, T. F., Martin, K. A. C., Smith, A. D. & Somogyi, P. J. comp. Neurol. 221, 263–278 (1983).
Levay, S. J. comp. Neurol. 150, 53–86 (1973).
Peters, A. in Synoptic Function (eds Edelman, G. M., Gall, W. E. & Cowan, W. M.) 373–397 (Wiley, New York, 1987).
Collonier, M. Brain Res. 9, 268–287 (1968).
Szentagothai, J. in Handbook of Sensory Physiology. Vol. 7. Central Visual Information (ed. Jung, R.) 269–324 (Springer, Berlin, 1973).
Beaulieu, C. & Colonnier, M. J. comp. Neurol. 231, 180–189 (1985).
Martin, K. A. C. & Whitteridge, D. J. Physiol. 353, 463–504 (1984).
Martin, K. A. C., Somogyi, P. & Whitteridge, D. Expl Brain Res. 50, 193–200 (1983).
White, E. L. & Rock, M. P. J. Neurocytol. 9, 615–636 (1980).
Creutzfeldt, O. & Ito, M. Expl. Brain Res. 6, 324–352 (1968).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Douglas, R., Martin, K. & Whitteridge, D. Selective responses of visual cortical cells do not depend on shunting inhibition. Nature 332, 642–644 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/332642a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/332642a0
This article is cited by
-
Visual input evokes transient and strong shunting inhibition in visual cortical neurons
Nature (1998)
-
Orientation selectivity of thalamic input to simple cells of cat visual cortex
Nature (1996)
-
Recurrent inhibition and clustered connectivity as a basis for Gabor-like receptive fields in the visual cortex
Biological Cybernetics (1996)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
