Mitchison G, Crick F
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Jun;79(11):3661-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.11.3661.
Rockland and Lung [Rockland, K. S. & Lung, J. S. (1982) Science 215, 1532-1534] have recently observed that an injection of horseradish peroxidase into the striate cortex of the tree shrew produces a patchy distribution of label adjacent to the injection site. They proposed that this pattern might be due to populations of neurons with long-range cortico-cortical connections that are interspersed with populations having no such connections. We suggest here an alternative explanation. We can account for the pattern by supposing that the label is carrier by a system of oriented axons. We suppose that these axons link cells with similar orientation preferences and make their connections within a narrow strip of cortex whose direction is related to the orientation of the cells in question. We suggest that such connections could be involved in generating complex receptive fields from simple ones. Other possibilities are that they are used to generate very elongated receptive fields, inhibitory flanks, or end-stopping. We suggest a number of experimental tests of these ideas.
罗克兰德和隆[罗克兰德，K.S. & 隆，J.S.（1982年）《科学》215卷，第1532 - 1534页]最近观察到，向树鼩的纹状皮层注射辣根过氧化物酶后，在注射部位附近会产生斑片状的标记分布。他们提出这种模式可能是由于具有长程皮质 - 皮质连接的神经元群体与没有这种连接的神经元群体相互交错所致。我们在此提出另一种解释。我们可以通过假设标记由一个定向轴突系统携带来说明这种模式。我们假设这些轴突连接具有相似方向偏好的细胞，并在与相关细胞方向相关的狭窄皮质条带内建立连接。我们认为这种连接可能参与从简单感受野生成复杂感受野。其他可能性是它们用于生成非常细长的感受野、抑制性侧翼或终端抑制。我们提出了一些对这些观点进行实验验证的方法。
