Using optogenetics to silence the cortex, the authors show that thalamic inputs to layer 4 V1 neurons in anesthetized mice only contribute a third of the total excitation to these cells during presentation of visual stimuli. Moreover, they find that a small offset in the center of ON and OFF receptive subfields accounts for the orientation tuning of thalamic excitation to these cells.
- Anthony D Lien
- Massimo Scanziani
