The goal of the proposed work is to investigate a large region of
extrastriate visual cortex in the cat, the Clare-Bishop area. Its
internal organization will be studied, and its relationship with
three other areas of visual cortex, areas 17, 18, and 19. The
Clare-Bishop area is of particular interest because it might be
considered the "highest-order" of the 3 visual areas that receive
input from areas 17. Its response properties bear the least
resemblence to those of area 17; it is unique in having major input
from a zone of thalamus connected to the superior colliculus; and
it receives only weak input from the lateral geniculate nucleus.
The Clare-Bishop area appears to differ from areas 17, 18, and 19
in another fundamental way. Its map of the upper visual field is
complex and redundant. It is logical to ask whether Clare-
Bishop's map of the lower visual field is similarly organized. If it
also is redundant, one might suspect that this kind of mapping is
characteristic of higher-order visual cortex, and will be found in
other areas.
Almost nothing is known about other kinds of functional
organization present in the Clare-Bishop area. Thus a major goal
is to investigate whether it is compartmentalized according to
particular response properties. Some possibilities are orientation
preference, selectivity for stimulus distance, and selectivity for
movement in depth.
The third focus of this proposal concerns the ordering of
connections between the Clare-Bishop area and primary visual
cortex. In tracer experiments, labeled cells in area 17 that send
axons to Clare-Bishop tend to be clustered. The functional basis
of this clustering will be examined. It might relate to functional
compartmentalization within the Clare-Bishop area, such that
matching compartments in area 17 and Clare-Bishop are
connected, while ones with opposite response properties are not.
Alternatively, clustering might be an intrinsic characteristic of
the cell population in area 17 projecting to the Clare-Bishop area.
If so, it is possible that the regions lacking projections to Clare-
Bishop send axons instead to either area 18 or area 19. If such
regions are found, the possibility that they also have distinctive
response properties will be examined.
No Sub Projects information available for 5R01EY004847-05
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