Field D J, Tolhurst D J
Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1986 Sep 22;228(1253):379-400. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1986.0060.
Receptive fields of simple cells in the cat visual cortex have recently been discussed in relation to the 'theory of communication' proposed by Gabor (1946). A number of investigators have suggested that the line-weighting functions, as measured orthogonal to the preferred orientation, may be best described as the product of a Gaussian envelope and a sinusoid (i.e. a Gabor function). Following Gabor's theory of 'basis' functions, it has also been suggested that simple cells can be categorized into even- and odd-symmetric categories. Based on the receptive field profiles of 46 simple cells recorded from cat visual cortex, our analysis provides a quantitative description of both the receptive-field envelope and the receptive-field 'symmetry' of each of the 46 cells. The results support the notion that, to a first approximation, Gabor functions with three free parameters (envelope width, carrier frequency and carrier phase) provide a good description of the receptive-field profiles. However, our analysis does not support the notion that simple cells generally fit into even- and odd-symmetric categories.
最近，人们结合加博尔（1946年）提出的“通信理论”，对猫视觉皮层中简单细胞的感受野进行了讨论。一些研究人员认为，与偏好方向正交测量的线加权函数，最好描述为高斯包络和正弦波的乘积（即加博尔函数）。根据加博尔的“基”函数理论，也有人提出简单细胞可分为偶对称和奇对称两类。基于从猫视觉皮层记录的46个简单细胞的感受野轮廓，我们的分析对这46个细胞中每个细胞的感受野包络和感受野“对称性”都进行了定量描述。结果支持这样一种观点，即大致来说，具有三个自由参数（包络宽度、载波频率和载波相位）的加博尔函数能很好地描述感受野轮廓。然而，我们的分析并不支持简单细胞通常可分为偶对称和奇对称两类的观点。
