Effects of binocular deprivation of pattern vision on single unit responses in the cat superior colliculus.

Single unit responses in the superior colliculus of cats deprived of pattern vision from birth and of normally reared cats were studied in unanesthetized pretrigeminal preparations. Collicular units of deprived cats showed a diminished direction-selectivity but a somewhat better speed-selectivity compared to normals; they also preferred lowspeed stimuli, and reacted less frequently to diffuse flash. The impairment of direction-selectivity of collicular neurons may be partly responsible for the impairment of the pursuit eye movements in visually deprived cats.