Influence of velocity on directional tuning of complex cells in cat striate cortex for texture motion.

The influences of velocity on texture motion and bar motion were compared in complex cells from cat's striate cortex. Velocity preference and bandwidth were invariably higher for texture motion than for bar motion. Bar tuning profiles were essentially velocity-invariant; texture tuning profiles were unimodal at low velocity, increasingly bimodal at higher velocities, with depressed sensitivity in directions optimal for bar stimuli. Velocity tuning was generally similar for each monocular input, except for one instance of opposite preferred directions through each eye for rapid texture motion. Implications for cortical wiring are discussed.