Abstract
A biological experimental system aided by a digital computer has been developed in order to study the neurophysiological basis of vision in the cat.
The experimenter can communicate with the computer in conversational style. In accordance with the experimenter's commands, the computer selects one of several programs and executes the selected program with the specified parameters. During the execution of the programs, the computer generates various light stimulus patterns on a cathode ray tube with the help of a newly developed pattern generator. The generated patterns are projected on the desired portions of the cat's retina through the ophthalmoscope. The single unit activities are sent to the computer for various kinds of data processing. The processed data are displayed through the typewriter, pen recorder, cathode ray tube, etc. on the spot.
Thus one can easily and rapidly determine the temporal and spatial characteristics of the visual system quantitatively. Some of the experimental results are shown as illustrative examples. They consist of contour map representation of the receptive fields, post-stimulus time histograms for stationary and moving spots, interval histograms, etc.
