A sinusoidal transform of the visual field in cortical area V2

Sedigh-Sarvestani, Madineh; Lee, Kuo-Sheng; Satterfield, Rachel; Shultz, Nicole; Fitzpatrick, David

doi:10.1101/2020.12.08.416651

Cited by 3 publications

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Emergent organization of multiple visuotopic maps without a feature hierarchy

Konkle

2021

Preprint

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The primate visual system is comprised of multiple visual areas. Despite their foundational relevance, there are no normative accounts for why there are multiple areas nor why they have their signature “mirrored map” topography. Here I show that the stereotyped cortical organization of multiple mirrored areas naturally emerges in simulated cortex, in which self-organizing processes are used to map a multi-scale representation of visual space smoothly onto a two-dimensional cortical sheet. Predominant accounts of multiple areas emphasize hierarchical processing, where each area extends and elaborates on the previous areas’ representation. Here, no explicit hierarchical relationships were required to manifest this multi-areal organization, suggesting that feature hierarchies may be the derived rather than the driving force of this organization. This modeling work thus provides a simple computational explanation for the hallmark features of early visual topography, and the presence of multiple areas, as emergent from a single functional goal — to smoothly represent the visual field at multiple spatial scales.One Sentence SummaryThis work presents a formal model of simulated cortex with multiple visual areas, where purely spatial relationships underlie the large-scale motifs of visual cortex.

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Emergent organization of multiple visuotopic maps without a feature hierarchy

Konkle

2021

Preprint

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Structural and functional evidence supports re-defining mouse higher order visual areas into a single area V2

Rowley,

Sedigh-Sarvestani

2024

Preprint

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The mouse has become one of the main organisms for studies of the visual system. As a result, there is increased effort to understand universal principles of visual processing by comparing the mouse visual system to that of other species. In primates and other well-studied species including cats and tree shrews, the visual cortex is parcellated into an area V1 and several higher order areas defined by structural and functional differences, and a near complete map of the visual field. In mice, the visual cortex beyond V1 is parcellated into several higher order areas, with less notable structural and functional differences, partial coverage of the visual field, and areal boundaries defined by reversals in progression of the visual field. Notably, recent work in tree shrews and primates has shown that reversals in progression of the visual field can be a hallmark of nonlinear retinotopic mapping within a single visual area. This, and other lines of evidence discussed here, provides a compelling case that the apparent existence of multiple higher order visual areas in the mouse is related to the false assumption of linear retinotopy. Specifically, we use simulations to show that nonlinear retinotopy within a single visual area can recapitulate the appearance of multiple areal borders beyond mouse V1. In addition, we show that many reported differences in functional properties between higher order visual areas can be better explained by retinotopic differences rather than areal identity. Our proposal to reclassify some of the higher order visual areas in the mouse into a single area V2 is not mere semantics because areal definitions influence experimental design and data analysis. Furthermore, such a reclassification would produce a common set of rules for defining areal boundaries among mammals and would bring the mouse visual system into agreement with evolutionary evidence for a single area V2 in related lineages.

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