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Principles underlying sensory map topography in primary visual cortex

Author

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  • Jens Kremkow

    (Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry
    † Present address: Department of Biology, Institute for Theoretical Biology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philippstrasse 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.)

  • Jianzhong Jin

    (Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry)

  • Yushi Wang

    (Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry)

  • Jose M. Alonso

    (Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry)

Abstract

The primary visual cortex contains a detailed map of the visual scene, which is represented according to multiple stimulus dimensions including spatial location, ocular dominance and stimulus orientation. The maps for spatial location and ocular dominance arise from the spatial arrangement of thalamic afferent axons in the cortex. However, the origins of the other maps remain unclear. Here we show that the cortical maps for orientation, direction and retinal disparity in the cat (Felis catus) are all strongly related to the organization of the map for spatial location of light (ON) and dark (OFF) stimuli, an organization that we show is OFF-dominated, OFF-centric and runs orthogonal to ocular dominance columns. Because this ON–OFF organization originates from the clustering of ON and OFF thalamic afferents in the visual cortex, we conclude that all main features of visual cortical topography, including orientation, direction and retinal disparity, follow a common organizing principle that arranges thalamic axons with similar retinotopy and ON–OFF polarity in neighbouring cortical regions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jens Kremkow & Jianzhong Jin & Yushi Wang & Jose M. Alonso, 2016. "Principles underlying sensory map topography in primary visual cortex," Nature, Nature, vol. 533(7601), pages 52-57, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:533:y:2016:i:7601:d:10.1038_nature17936
    DOI: 10.1038/nature17936
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Elaine Tring & Konnie K. Duan & Dario L. Ringach, 2022. "ON/OFF domains shape receptive field structure in mouse visual cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Sohrab Najafian & Erin Koch & Kai Lun Teh & Jianzhong Jin & Hamed Rahimi-Nasrabadi & Qasim Zaidi & Jens Kremkow & Jose-Manuel Alonso, 2022. "A theory of cortical map formation in the visual brain," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Yajie Liang & Rongwen Lu & Katharine Borges & Na Ji, 2023. "Stimulus edges induce orientation tuning in superior colliculus," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Jérémie Sibille & Carolin Gehr & Jonathan I. Benichov & Hymavathy Balasubramanian & Kai Lun Teh & Tatiana Lupashina & Daniela Vallentin & Jens Kremkow, 2022. "High-density electrode recordings reveal strong and specific connections between retinal ganglion cells and midbrain neurons," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, December.

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