The study by Gilbert and Wiesel (1982) investigates the intrinsic connections within the cat's primary visual cortex, focusing on the horizontal distribution of these connections. They found that individual neurons can communicate over long distances (up to 4 mm) horizontally, parallel to the cortical surface. The collaterals within the axonal fields of these neurons were distributed in repeating clusters with an average periodicity of 1 mm. This pattern was observed in more than half of the pyramidal and spiny stellate cells across all cortical layers. The clustering pattern was most apparent when the cells were rotated to present a view parallel to the cortical surface. The axonal fields of all injected cells were asymmetric, extending for greater distances along one cortical axis than the orthogonal axis. The authors suggest that these connections may be used to generate larger receptive fields or to produce inhibitory flanks in other cells' receptive fields. The findings challenge the classical view that axons run predominantly perpendicular to the cortical surface and support the idea that there is more horizontal interaction within a given cortical area than previously thought.The study by Gilbert and Wiesel (1982) investigates the intrinsic connections within the cat's primary visual cortex, focusing on the horizontal distribution of these connections. They found that individual neurons can communicate over long distances (up to 4 mm) horizontally, parallel to the cortical surface. The collaterals within the axonal fields of these neurons were distributed in repeating clusters with an average periodicity of 1 mm. This pattern was observed in more than half of the pyramidal and spiny stellate cells across all cortical layers. The clustering pattern was most apparent when the cells were rotated to present a view parallel to the cortical surface. The axonal fields of all injected cells were asymmetric, extending for greater distances along one cortical axis than the orthogonal axis. The authors suggest that these connections may be used to generate larger receptive fields or to produce inhibitory flanks in other cells' receptive fields. The findings challenge the classical view that axons run predominantly perpendicular to the cortical surface and support the idea that there is more horizontal interaction within a given cortical area than previously thought.