It is generally thought that orientation selectivity first appears in the primary visual cortex (V1), whereas neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN), an input source for V1, are thought to be insensitive to stimulus orientation. Here we show that increasing both the spatial frequency and size of the grating stimuli beyond their respective optimal values strongly enhance the orientation tuning of LGN neurons. The resulting orientation tuning was clearly contrast-invariant. Furthermore, blocking intrathalamic inhibition by iontophoretically administering gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)(A) receptor antagonists, such as bicuculline and GABAzine, slightly but significantly weakened the contrast invariance. Our results suggest that orientation tuning in the LGN is caused by an elliptical classical receptive field and orientation-tuned surround suppression, and that its contrast invariance is ensured by local GABA(A) inhibition. This contrast-invariant orientation tuning in LGN neurons may contribute to the contrast-invariant orientation tuning seen in V1 neurons. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd and the Japan Neuroscience Society. All rights reserved.