Does Retinotopy Influence Cortical Folding in Primate Visual Cortex?
- Reza Rajimehr 1 , 2 and
- Roger B. H. Tootell 1
- 1NMR Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, and
- 2McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
- Correspondence should be addressed to Reza Rajimehr, NMR Martinos Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 149 Thirteenth Street, Room 2301, Charlestown, MA 02129. reza{at}nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
Abstract
In humans and other Old World primates, much of visual cortex comprises a set of retinotopic maps, embedded in a cortical sheet with well known, identifiable folding patterns. However, the relationship between these two prominent cortical variables has not been comprehensively studied. Here, we quantitatively tested this relationship using functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging in monkeys and humans. We found that the vertical meridian of the visual field tends to be represented on gyri (convex folds), whereas the horizontal meridian is preferentially represented in sulci (concave folds), throughout visual cortex in both primate species. This relationship suggests that the retinotopic maps may constrain the pattern of cortical folding during development.
- Copyright © 2009 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/09/2911149-04$15.00/0
This article is freely available online through the J Neurosci Open Choice option.
