TY - JOUR AB - NEWS & VIEWS RESEARCH are generated by multiple thalamic inputs neurons across the visual–cortical map . that have temporally different responses to Whatever the answers are, it is becoming the stimulus (Fig. 1). Thalamic inputs that increasingly clear that the visual cortex gen- respond slowly to visual stimuli generate slow erates stimulus selectivity, such as prefer- responses in cortical regions, whereas those ences for direction and orientation, through responding faster generate fast responses. thalamo–cortical convergence. Lien and Lien and Scanziani’s results, taken together Scanziani’s work shows that this mechanism 3–10 with previous work , raise the interesting pos- is better preserved across mammals than was sibility that cortical direction selectivity is gen- previously thought. ■ 50 Years Ago erated through a common mechanism — the convergence of temporally diverse thalamic Jose Manuel Alonso is in the College of Reading aids for the blind have inputs — in rodents, cats and primates. But as Optometry, State University of New York, so far involved the use of intact with all research, some questions remain open. New York, New York 10036, USA. sensory pathways and have For instance, the authors focus their study em ­ ail: jalonso@sunyopt.edu progressed little beyond Braille on the middle layers of the visual TI - 50 & 100 years ago JF - Nature DO - 10.1038/d41586-018-05307-6 DA - 2018-06-07 UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/springer-journals/50-100-years-ago-wSSMDv0eU6 SP - 39 EP - 39 VL - 558 IS - 7708 DP - DeepDyve ER -