Receptive Field

Generally, the receptive field is a spatial area/volume that can excite a given sensor. A Photoreceptor has a receptive field defined by the cone of light that can excite it. A Retinal Ganglion Cell has a receptive field that can comprise a single Photoreceptor’s Receptive Field, or an amalgamation of several Photoreceptors’ Receptive Fields.

A common arrangement of a Ganglion Cell’s Receptive Field is a group of Photoreceptors comprising a “center” and a “surround”. The relative excitation of the “center” group and the “surround” group is useful for edge detection, as in the below figure: