The effect of body tilt on the directionality of units in cat visual cortex

Receptive fields of single units in the visual cortex of the cat were studied in an attempt to find manifestations of sensory interaction between visual and vestibular systems. The preferred direction of cortical units was mapped in paralyzed unanesthetized animals with the cat horizontal and again when the cat was tilted. Results did not support the idea of any specific receptive field compensatory mechanism, but the existence of nonspecific vestibular effects on visual cortex cells was not ruled out.