Abstract
NEURONS in the primary visual cortex respond selectively to the orientation of edges and their direction of motion. Orientation preference is mapped in a systematic fashion across the cortical surface, such that neurons in adjacent columns have similar but slightly shifted preferred orientations1–7. Microelectrode studies have suggested that direction preference is also arranged in a systematic fashion8–10, but exactly how this response property is mapped remains unclear. Here we show by optical imaging4–5 of intrinsic signals6–7,11–14 in ferret cortical area 17 that there is a mosaic-like map of direction preference. This map consists of numerous regions within which direction preference changes in a slow, continuous fashion. These regions are separated by winding boundaries (fractures) across which direction preference shifts abruptly, often by 180 °. Comparison of direction and orientation preference maps shows that these fractures subdivide iso-orientation domains into regions selective for opposite directions of motion.
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Weliky, M., Bosking, W. & Fitzpatrick, D. A systematic map of direction preference in primary visual cortex. Nature 379, 725–728 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/379725a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/379725a0
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