Neural implementation of computational models of motion analysis

It is noted that the fundamental properties of neurons that respond to moving objects can be represented in space-time plots. Recent neurobiological work with the visual cortex of turtles indicates how the generation of such plots can be understood in terms of underlying neural mechanisms. A preparation of turtle visual cortex has been developed that retains the axons of neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate complex. One can place two stimulating electrodes in this bundle of fibers and sequentially activate two fascicles of axons that carry information from different regions of visual space over a range of interstimulus intervals. By recording from neurons in the visual cortex using intracellular recording methods, one can construct temporal integration curves that describe the time course of temporal facilitation of synaptic potentials in these neurons