Abstract
RECENTLY the visual system of the octopus has been investigated by several anatomical and behavioural methods. From behavioural investigations of pattern discrimination, Sutherland1 has proposed a theory of vertical and horizontal coding of pattern information. The anatomical complexity required for such neural coding is certainly present in the optic lobes. However, Young2 has described axon collaterals between adjacent receptor cells within the retina and has suggested the possibility of synaptic influence on the spatial relations of the information propagated from the retina. Previous work in this laboratory has disclosed that there are two responses to light stimulation in the retina of the octopus: a sustained negative response on the vitreal surface and a sustained positive response in the deeper layer3. The two responses behave differently with respect to stimulus variables, and thus appear to reflect two potential origins rather than a single sink-source generator4. The deep, positive, response has been suggested as arising, at least partially, from the receptor cells. In the work reported here, it was found that for the deep response there is a spread of positivity toward the centre of the retina and a spread of negativity toward the periphery; this might represent a function of the lateral connexions described anatomically2.
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References
Sutherland, N. S., Nature, 186, 847 (1960).
Young, J. Z., Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., B, 245, 1 (1962).
Tasaki, K., Oikawa, T., and Norton, A. C., Vision Res., 3, 61 (1963).
Hagins, W. A., Zonana, H. V., and Adams, R. G., Nature, 194, 844 (1962).
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TASAKI, K., NORTON, A. & FUKADA, Y. Regional and Directional Differences in the Lateral Spread of Retinal Potentials in the Octopus. Nature 198, 1206–1208 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1038/1981206a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1981206a0
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