Correction of Distortion in Flattened Representations of the Cortical Surface Allows Prediction of V1-V3 Functional Organization from Anatomy

Abstract

Several domains of neuroscience offer map-like models that link location on the cortical surface to properties of sensory representation. Within cortical visual areas V1, V2, and V3, algebraic transformations can relate position in the visual field to the retinotopic representation on the flattened cortical sheet. A limit to the practical application of this structure-function model is that the cortex, while topologically a two-dimensional surface, is curved. Flattening of the curved surface to a plane unavoidably introduces local geometric distortions that are not accounted for in idealized models. Here, we show that this limitation is overcome by correcting the geometric distortion induced by cortical flattening. We use a mass-spring-damper simulation to create a registration between functional MRI retinotopic mapping data of visual areas V1, V2, and V3 and an algebraic model of retinotopy. This registration is then applied to the flattened cortical surface anatomy to create an anatomical template that is linked to the algebraic retinotopic model. This registered cortical template can be used to accurately predict the location and retinotopic organization of these early visual areas from cortical anatomy alone. Moreover, we show that prediction accuracy remains when extrapolating beyond the range of data used to inform the model, indicating that the registration reflects the retinotopic organization of visual cortex. We provide code for the mass-spring-damper technique, which has general utility for the registration of cortical structure and function beyond the visual cortex.

The Face-Processing Network Is Resilient to Focal Resection of Human Visual Cortex

“…3C) show that the selectivity of these regions is also characteristic, manifesting as higher responses to faces than nonfaces ( p Ͻ 0.01). IEEG recordings in pFus-faces/FFA-1 further showed characteristic latencies of this selectivity emerging at ϳ150 ms after stimulus onset (Allison et al, 1994;Parvizi et al, 2012).…”

“…Identifying white matter tracts connecting the periphery of V1/V2 to STS regions is consistent with evidence of anatomical connections from the periphery of V1/V2 to the periphery of MT in nonhuman primates (Desimone and Ungerleider, 1986). These connections have been postulated to convey signals about dynamic facial motion to the pSTS (O'Toole et al, 2002;Pitcher et al, 2014;Bernstein and Yovel, 2015), as pSTS abuts the peripheral representation of MT in humans (Amano et al, 2009;Weiner and Grill-Spector, 2013).…”

Age-related macular degeneration affects the optic radiation white matter projecting to locations of retinal damage

“…Critically, we show changes in white matter tissue properties within the optic radiation that are specific to fascicles projecting from central, foveal locations, those with retinal damage. To do so, we performed an advanced, anatomically precise characterization of the relationship between the locus of retinal damage in AMD (fovea) and the white matter fascicles within the optic radiation projecting to locations of primary visual cortex that represent different eccentricities-fovea, parafoveal and peripheral regions combining anatomical and advanced computational methods (Benson et al 2012(Benson et al , 2014. This fine grade mapping between the retinotopic location of damage and white matter goes beyond previous reports (Prins et al 2016a, b;Hernowo et al 2014;Malania et al 2017).…”

“…2). To do so, we used a recent automatic retinotopic mapping methods (Benson et al 2012(Benson et al , 2014 and the known anatomical subdivision of the OR (Fig. 2a, b) to separate the white matter projecting to the three eccentricity ranges of primary visual cortex (V1; see "Methods" for additional details).…”

The HCP 7T Retinotopy Dataset: Description and pRF Analysis

“…In the 3 field of vision, researchers have successfully exploited functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to 4 noninvasively measure visual field representations ('retinotopy') in the living human brain (Engel et al, 5 1994;Sereno et al, 1995; DeYoe et al, 1996; Engel et al, 1997). These efforts enable parcellation of 6 visual cortex into distinct maps of the visual field, thereby laying the foundation for detailed investigations 7 of the properties of visual cortex (parcellation references: Abdollahi et al, 2014;Benson et al, 2014; 8 Wang et al, 2015; review references: Tootell et al, 1996;Wandell et al, 2007;Silver and Kastner, 2009; 9 Wandell and Winawer, 2011). One of the datasets acquired by the Human Connectome Project (HCP) 10…”