Visual stimuli occurring naturally are rich in instances of objects delineated from the backgrounds only by differences in luminance, which is called first-order stimuli, as well as those defined by differences of contrast or texture, referred to as second-order stimuli.The neuronal mechanism for processing second-order stimuli is still unclear.In this study, we compared the responses of cat LGN (lateral geniculate nucleus) cells to second-order stimuli at five temporal frequencies to their responses to first-order stimuli.Our results showed that most LGN cells can be evoked by second-order stimuli, and their firing rates to second-order stimuli decreased relative to first-order stimuli as temporal frequency increased from 0.5 to 8 Hz; moreover the ratio of a nonlinear to linear factor had a higher value in the responses to second-order stimuli than to first-order stimuli.We also found that the responses of Y-cells to second-order stimuli were significantly higher than the responses of X-cells, suggesting the Y-cells have a more important role in the processing of second-order stimuli.All these results reveal that first-order and second-order signals might be processed in separate streams of the visual system.