Simple cells are neurons in the visual cortex of the brain that are responsible for detecting edges and bars of light in specific orientations. Here are two potential limitations or defects of simple cells:
Limited sensitivity to complex visual stimuli: Simple cells are designed to detect simple features, such as edges and bars of light. While they are good at detecting these features in specific orientations, they are not very sensitive to more complex visual stimuli, such as faces, objects, or scenes. For this reason, more complex cells (also known as complex cells or hypercomplex cells) are needed to process more complex visual information.
Fixed orientation tuning: Simple cells are sensitive to edges and bars of light in specific orientations, but they are not very good at detecting these features in other orientations. This means that they have a fixed "orientation tuning" that limits their ability to detect edges and bars that are tilted or angled in different ways. Complex cells, which have a more flexible orientation tuning, can overcome this limitation to some extent, but they also have their own limitations.