Effects of pattern shape on adaptation of dLGN cell

Pattern adaptation is one of the fundamental sensory processes in the visual system. In this study, we compared pattern adaptation induced by two types of sinusoidal drifting grating in dLGN cells of cat. The two types of grating have the same parameters (e.g. spatial frequency, temporal frequency and contrast) except their pattern shapes, one of which is normal grating and the other annular grating. The results suggested that the annular grating elicited stronger response and stronger pattern adaptation than the normal grating. This is consistent with the adaptation and aftereffect to the two types of drifting gratings seen in psychology and may reflect the subcortical neural mechanism underlying these psychological phenomena.