How are visual receptive fields in the retina shaped differently from receptive fields in the cerebral cortex?

Visual receptive fields undergo significant transformation as information travels from the retina to the cerebral cortex.

In the retina and the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), receptive fields are characterized by a concentric, circular organization with centre-surround antagonism (either "on-centre/off-surround" or "off-centre/on-surround"). This structure is highly effective for detecting local contrast, edges, and movement.123

By contrast, receptive fields in the primary visual cortex (V1) are shaped differently to allow for more complex feature extraction. Instead of circular symmetry, most V1 neurons are selective for the orientation or direction of motion of a stimulus. These neurons respond best to lines or edges running in a specific direction. This cortical organization arises through the hierarchical convergence of multiple LGN inputs that align along specific axes in the visual field.13

As processing continues into higher visual cortical areas, receptive fields become increasingly complex, eventually responding to specific shapes, objects, or even faces, demonstrating a transition from simple contrast detection to sophisticated pattern recognition.13