The functional organization of early visual areas seems to be largely determined
during development. However, the organization of areas important for learning
and memory, such as perirhinal cortex, may be modifiable in adults. To test
this hypothesis, we recorded from pairs of neurons in perirhinal cortex of
macaques while they viewed multiple complex stimuli. For novel stimuli, neuronal
response preferences for pairs of nearby neurons and far-apart neurons were
uncorrelated. However, after one day of experience with the stimuli, response
preferences of nearby neurons became more similar. We conclude that specific
visual experience induces development of clusters of perirhinal neurons with
similar stimulus preferences.
