Corticofugal feedback influences the responses of geniculate neurons to moving stimuli.

Geniculate cell responses to moving bars and moving texture were compared in normal cats and in cats in which the corticofugal feedback was removed by cortical ablation. In experimental animals the response strength and the velocity upper cutoff assessed with a moving bar was reduced compared to control animals. The strength of response to texture decreased even more after cortical ablation, which also changed the response pattern of X cells to moving texture. These data suggest that corticofugal feedback contributes to the geniculate responses to moving stimuli and in particular to moving texture.