[Functional features of the receptive fields of neurons of the posterior temporal cortex of the cat].

Dynamic characteristics of the visual receptive fields (RF) of neurones in the postero-temporal cortical area (field 21) of alert cat were studied in prolonged repeated testings of RFs in the absence of influence controlled in the experiment. Significant fluctuations of RFs were found in the studied neurones--in changes of RFs form, their size and orientation and also in RF fragmentation, i.e. simultaneous and/or alternating appearance of separate zones (discharge centers) of RFs in the process of testing. It is suggested that plasticity and variability of neurones' RFs in time in this study are mainly due to modulating effects of extravisual structures, uncontrolled in the test,--to reticular inputs in particular.