Ocular dominance columns: enigmas and challenges

Interocular suppression in chromoluminance patterns measured with SSVEP

Many cells in the early human visual system respond to either chromatic or luminance contrast or a combination of both. In addition, depending on their location in the visual hierarchy, these cells may receive input from either one eye or both eyes. It is well understood that spatial luminance contrast patterns undergo binocular normalization: Inputs from each eye mutually suppress each other so that monocular and binocular percepts appear similar. Recent reports suggest that interocular normalization computations may depend on spatial and temporal frequency. Here, we examined the effect of chromaticity and spatial frequency on binocular normalization computations using a dichoptic frequency-tagged, steady-state visually evoked potential (SSVEP) paradigm. We found that normalization as indexed by changes in eye-tagged input SSVEP frequencies and intermodulation terms depends significantly on both spatial frequency and color. We also found that binocular combination must occur in neurons that carry half-wave rectified signals due to 1F combination frequencies being present. Overall, our results are not well explained by a model in which neurons that code low spatial frequency color are segregated anatomically in the centers of ocular dominance columns. Significant levels of binocular interaction must occur in neurons that code both color and luminance and in neurons sensitive to both low and high spatial frequencies.

Ocular dominance shift in refractive cataract surgery: prospective, observational study

PURPOSE

To explore the features of the dominant and nondominant eyes in patients with cataracts and predict ocular dominance shift (ODS) based on preoperative indicators.

SETTING

Changsha Aier Eye Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China.

DESIGN

Prospective, observational study.

METHODS

Patients with age-related cataracts who underwent unilateral cataract surgery were enrolled in this study. Before the procedure, uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) was assessed and noncycloplegic subjective refraction evaluations were conducted to determine corrected distance visual acuity. Total astigmatism, corneal astigmatism, and intraocular astigmatism were measured using OPD-Scan III. Cataract type was assessed using slitlamp biomicroscopy based on the Lens Opacities Classification System III. Ocular dominance (OD) was determined under corrected conditions using the hole-in-card test. Follow-up visits occurred at 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month postoperatively. After 1 month, OD was re-evaluated, and participants completed the 9-item Short-Form Cataract Questionnaire.

RESULTS

94 patients (188 eyes) were enrolled in the study. The analysis showed that the ODS rate of unilateral cataract surgery was 40.4%. In addition, age, UDVA of the nondominant eye, posterior subcapsular cataract, and total astigmatism were risk factors for ODS. No difference in vision-related quality of life was detected between patients who had ODS and those who did not.

CONCLUSIONS

Several preoperative parameters as potential risk factors of ODS after cataract surgery were identified. These findings provide guidance for predicting changes in the dominant eye and may improve the precise selection of intraocular lenses and implementation of monovision strategies.

Development of ocular dominance columns across rodents and other species: revisiting the concept of critical period plasticity

The existence of cortical columns, regarded as computational units underlying both lower and higher-order information processing, has long been associated with highly evolved brains, and previous studies suggested their absence in rodents. However, recent discoveries have unveiled the presence of ocular dominance columns (ODCs) in the primary visual cortex (V1) of Long-Evans rats. These domains exhibit continuity from layer 2 through layer 6, confirming their identity as genuine ODCs. Notably, ODCs are also observed in Brown Norway rats, a strain closely related to wild rats, suggesting the physiological relevance of ODCs in natural survival contexts, although they are lacking in albino rats. This discovery has enabled researchers to explore the development and plasticity of cortical columns using a multidisciplinary approach, leveraging studies involving hundreds of individuals-an endeavor challenging in carnivore and primate species. Notably, developmental trajectories differ depending on the aspect under examination: while the distribution of geniculo-cortical afferent terminals indicates matured ODCs even before eye-opening, consistent with prevailing theories in carnivore/primate studies, examination of cortical neuron spiking activities reveals immature ODCs until postnatal day 35, suggesting delayed maturation of functional synapses which is dependent on visual experience. This developmental gap might be recognized as 'critical period' for ocular dominance plasticity in previous studies. In this article, I summarize cross-species differences in ODCs and geniculo-cortical network, followed by a discussion on the development, plasticity, and evolutionary significance of rat ODCs. I discuss classical and recent studies on critical period plasticity in the venue where critical period plasticity might be a component of experience-dependent development. Consequently, this series of studies prompts a paradigm shift in our understanding of species conservation of cortical columns and the nature of plasticity during the classical critical period.

The causal involvement of the visual cortex in visual working memory remains uncertain

The role of the early visual cortex in visual working memory (VWM) is a matter of current debate. Neuroimaging studies have consistently shown that visual areas encode the content of working memory, while transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies have presented incongruent results. Thus, we lack conclusive evidence supporting the causal role of early visual areas in VWM. In a recent registered report, Phylactou et al. (Phylactou P, Shimi A, Konstantinou N 2023 R. Soc. Open Sci. 10, 230321 (doi:10.1098/rsos.230321)) sought to tackle this controversy via two well-powered TMS experiments, designed to correct possible methodological issues of previous attempts identified in a preceding systematic review and meta-analysis (Phylactou P, Traikapi A, Papadatou-Pastou M, Konstantinou N 2022 Psychon. Bull. Rev. 29, 1594-1624 (doi:10.3758/s13423-022-02107-y)). However, a key part of their critique and experimental design was based on a misunderstanding of the visual system. They disregarded two important anatomical facts, namely that early visual areas of each hemisphere represent the contralateral visual hemifield, and that each hemisphere receives equally strong input from each eye-both leading to confounded conditions and artefactual effects in their studies. Here, we explain the correct anatomy, describe why their experiments failed to address current issues in the literature and perform a thorough reanalysis of their TMS data revealing important null results. We conclude that the causal role of the visual cortex in VWM remains uncertain.

Ocular dominance in cataract surgery: research status and progress

Ocular dominance (OD), a commonly used concept in clinical practice, plays an important role in optometry and refractive surgery. With the development of refractive cataract surgery, the refractive function of the intraocular lens determines the achievement of the postoperative full range of vision based on the retinal defocus blur suppression and binocular monovision principle. Therefore, OD plays an important role in cataract surgery. OD is related to the visual formation of the cerebral cortex, and its plasticity suggests that visual experience can influence the visual system. Cataract surgery changes the visual experience and transforms the dominant eye, which confirms the plasticity of the visual system. Based on the concept and mechanism of OD, this review summarizes the application of OD in cataract surgery.

Isochronic development of cortical synapses in primates and mice

The neotenous, or delayed, development of primate neurons, particularly human ones, is thought to underlie primate-specific abilities like cognition. We tested whether synaptic development follows suit-would synapses, in absolute time, develop slower in longer-lived, highly cognitive species like non-human primates than in shorter-lived species with less human-like cognitive abilities, e.g., the mouse? Instead, we find that excitatory and inhibitory synapses in the male Mus musculus (mouse) and Rhesus macaque (primate) cortex form at similar rates, at similar times after birth. Primate excitatory and inhibitory synapses and mouse excitatory synapses also prune in such an isochronic fashion. Mouse inhibitory synapses are the lone exception, which are not pruned and instead continuously added throughout life. The monotony of synaptic development clocks across species with disparate lifespans, experiences, and cognitive abilities argues that such programs are likely orchestrated by genetic events rather than experience.

A role for ocular dominance in binocular integration

Neurons in the primate primary visual cortex (V1) combine left- and right-eye information to form a binocular output. Controversy surrounds whether ocular dominance, the preference of these neurons for one eye over the other, is functionally relevant. Here, we demonstrate that ocular dominance impacts gain control during binocular combination. We recorded V1 spiking activity while monkeys passively viewed grating stimuli. Gratings were either presented to one eye (monocular), both eyes with the same contrasts (binocular balanced), or both eyes with different contrasts (binocular imbalanced). We found that contrast placed in a neuron's dominant eye was weighted more strongly than contrast placed in a neuron's non-dominant eye. This asymmetry covaried with neurons' ocular dominance. We then tested whether accounting for ocular dominance within divisive normalization improves the fit to neural data. We found that ocular dominance significantly improved model performance, with interocular normalization providing the best fits. These findings suggest that V1 ocular dominance is relevant for response normalization during binocular stimulation.

Ultra-High Field Imaging of Human Visual Cognition

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the key methodology for mapping the functions of the human brain in a noninvasive manner, is limited by low temporal and spatial resolution. Recent advances in ultra-high field (UHF) fMRI provide a mesoscopic (i.e., submillimeter resolution) tool that allows us to probe laminar and columnar circuits, distinguish bottom-up versus top-down pathways, and map small subcortical areas. We review recent work demonstrating that UHF fMRI provides a robust methodology for imaging the brain across cortical depths and columns that provides insights into the brain's organization and functions at unprecedented spatial resolution, advancing our understanding of the fine-scale computations and interareal communication that support visual cognition.

Visual experience-dependent development of ocular dominance columns in pigmented rats

Despite previous agreement of the absence of cortical column structure in the rodent visual cortex, we have recently revealed a presence of ocular dominance columns (ODCs) in the primary visual cortex (V1) of adult Long-Evans rats. In this study, we deepened understanding of characteristics of rat ODCs. We found that this structure was conserved in Brown Norway rats, but not in albino rats; therefore, it could be a structure generally present in pigmented wild rats. Activity-dependent gene expression indicated that maturation of eye-dominant patches takes more than 2 weeks after eye-opening, and this process is visual experience dependent. Monocular deprivation during classical critical period strongly influenced size of ODCs, shifting ocular dominance from the deprived eye to the opened eye. On the other hand, transneuronal anterograde tracer showed a presence of eye-dominant patchy innervation from the ipsilateral V1 even before eye-opening, suggesting the presence of visual activity-independent genetic components of developing ODCs. Pigmented C57BL/6J mice also showed minor clusters of ocular dominance neurons. These results provide insights into how visual experience-dependent and experience-independent components both contribute to develop cortical columns during early postnatal stages, and indicate that rats and mice can be excellent models to study them.

Ocular Dominance and Its Association With Central Corneal Thickness: An Observational Study in Central India

Background The aim of this study is to determine ocular dominance and its association with central corneal thickness (CCT). These two parameters are of great significance in clinical practice; identifying the dominant eye helps in planning cataract surgeries, treatment of presbyopia, monovision correction, etc., and assessing the CCT helps in early diagnosis and management of keratoconus, glaucoma, contact lens-related complications, and dry eye. Methods A cross-sectional study that involves patients and volunteers who have come for a checkup to the ophthalmology department of the college hospital. Ninety patients were examined for this study within two months. The hole-in-card test is performed to determine the ocular dominance in people with normal and healthy eyes without any pathologies except refractive errors. Specular microscopy through a non-contact modality will be done to assess the thickness of the central cornea in both eyes. Statistical analysis was done using the paired t-test to compare the patient's eyes and the chi-square test, which helps us associate ocular dominance and CCT.  Results Right eye dominance was seen in the majority of the participants (72.91%), whereas left eye dominance was seen in comparatively fewer participants (27.08%). The CCT of the dominant eye is found to be 520.40 ± 29.83 μm and that of the non-dominant eye is 524.40 ± 29.37 μm. A lower CCT in the dominant eye was seen in 83.33% of the subjects; 14.58% of them had a higher CCT in the dominant eye and 2.08% had the same CCT in both eyes. Conclusion From the observational study that has been made, the majority of the population shows right eye dominance. The CCT is relatively thinner in the dominant eye. About 80-85% of the examined people showed a thinner cornea in the dominant eye. But we cannot generalize that the eye with a lesser corneal thickness will be the dominant eye in all the cases, as a few cases have shown dominance in the eye with a thicker cornea.

Li and Atick's theory of efficient binocular coding: A tutorial and mini-review

Li and Atick (Network: Computation in Neural Systems 5 (1994) 157-174) presented a theory of efficient binocular encoding that explains a number of experimental findings. A binocular neuron is conventionally described in terms of two channels: the left and right eyes. Li and Atick's theory instead describes the neuron in terms of two alternative channels: the binocular sum and difference. The advantage of the latter description is that, unlike the left and right eye channels, the summation and differencing channels are usually uncorrelated; this means that each channel can be optimised independently of the other. The theory shows how to derive optimal receptive fields for the binocular summation and differencing channels; from these, it is easy to derive the neuron's optimal left and right eye receptive fields. The functional reality of the summation and differencing channels is demonstrated by a series of adaptation studies that confirm some counterintuitive predictions of the theory. Here we provide an accessible account of the theory, and review the evidence supporting it.

What has vision science taught us about functional MRI?

In the domain of human neuroimaging, much attention has been paid to the question of whether and how the development of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has advanced our scientific knowledge of the human brain. However, the opposite question is also important; how has our knowledge of the brain advanced our understanding of fMRI? Here, we discuss how and why scientific knowledge about the human and animal visual system has been used to answer fundamental questions about fMRI as a brain measurement tool and how these answers have contributed to scientific discoveries beyond vision science.

An optimized procedure to record visual evoked potential in mice

Visual evoked potential (VEP) is commonly used to evaluate visual acuity in both clinical and basic studies. Subdermal needle electrodes or skull pre-implanted screw electrodes are usually used to record VEP in rodents. However, the VEP amplitudes recorded by the former are small while the latter may damage the brain. In this study, we established a new invasive procedure for VEP recording, and made a series of comparisons of VEP parameters recorded from different electrode locations, different times of day (day and night) and bilateral eyes, to evaluate the influence of these factors on VEP in mice. Our data reveal that our invasive method is reliable and can record VEP with good waveforms and large amplitudes. The comparison data show that VEP is greatly influenced by active electrode locations and difference between day and night. In C57 or CD1 ONC (optic nerve crush) models and Brn3b^AP/AP mice, which are featured by loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), amplitudes of VEP N1 and P1 waves are drastically reduced. The newly established VEP procedure is very reliable and stable, and is particularly useful for detecting losses of RGC quantities, functions or connections to the brain. Our analyses of various recording conditions also provide useful references for future studies.

Constraint-induced intervention as an emergent phenomenon from synaptic competition in biological systems

The principle of constraint-induced therapy is widely practiced in rehabilitation. In hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) with impaired contralateral corticospinal projection due to unilateral injury, function improves after imposing a temporary constraint on limbs from the less affected hemisphere. This type of partially-reversible impairment in motor control by early brain injury bears a resemblance to the experience-dependent plastic acquisition and modification of neuronal response selectivity in the visual cortex. Previously, such mechanism was modeled within the framework of BCM (Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro) theory, a rate-based synaptic modification theory. Here, we demonstrate a minimally complex yet sufficient neural network model which provides a fundamental explanation for inter-hemispheric competition using a simplified spike-based model of information transmission and plasticity. We emulate the restoration of function in hemiplegic CP by simulating the competition between cells of the ipsilateral and contralateral corticospinal tracts. We use a high-speed hardware neural simulation to provide realistic numbers of spikes and realistic magnitudes of synaptic modification. We demonstrate that the phenomenon of constraint-induced partial reversal of hemiplegia can be modeled by simplified neural descending tracts with 2 layers of spiking neurons and synapses with spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). We further demonstrate that persistent hemiplegia following unilateral cortical inactivation or deprivation is predicted by the STDP-based model but is inconsistent with BCM model. Although our model is a highly simplified and limited representation of the corticospinal system, it offers an explanation of how constraint as an intervention can help the system to escape from a suboptimal solution. This is a display of an emergent phenomenon from the synaptic competition.

Ultra-high field fMRI reveals origins of feedforward and feedback activity within laminae of human ocular dominance columns

Ultra-high field MRI can functionally image the cerebral cortex of human subjects at the submillimeter scale of cortical columns and laminae. Here, we investigate both in concert, by imaging ocular dominance columns (ODCs) in primary visual cortex (V1) across different cortical depths. We ensured that putative ODC patterns in V1 (a) are stable across runs, sessions, and scanners located in different continents, (b) have a width (~1.3 mm) expected from post-mortem and animal work and (c) are absent at the retinotopic location of the blind spot. We then dissociated the effects of bottom-up thalamo-cortical input and attentional feedback processes on activity in V1 across cortical depth. Importantly, the separation of bottom-up information flows into ODCs allowed us to validly compare attentional conditions while keeping the stimulus identical throughout the experiment. We find that, when correcting for draining vein effects and using both model-based and model-free approaches, the effect of monocular stimulation is largest at deep and middle cortical depths. Conversely, spatial attention influences BOLD activity exclusively near the pial surface. Our findings show that simultaneous interrogation of columnar and laminar dimensions of the cortical fold can dissociate thalamocortical inputs from top-down processing, and allow the investigation of their interactions without any stimulus manipulation.

Eye-specific pattern-motion signals support the perception of three-dimensional motion

An object moving through three-dimensional (3D) space typically yields different patterns of velocities in each eye. For an interocular velocity difference cue to be used, some instances of real 3D motion in the environment (e.g., when a moving object is partially occluded) would require an interocular velocity difference computation that operates on motion signals that are not only monocular (or eye specific) but also depend on each eye's two-dimensional (2D) direction being estimated over regions larger than the size of V1 receptive fields (i.e., global pattern motion). We investigated this possibility using 3D motion aftereffects (MAEs) with stimuli comprising many small, drifting Gabor elements. Conventional frontoparallel (2D) MAEs were local—highly sensitive to the test elements being in the same locations as the adaptor (Experiment 1). In contrast, 3D MAEs were robust to the test elements being in different retinal locations than the adaptor, indicating that 3D motion processing involves relatively global spatial pooling of motion signals (Experiment 2). The 3D MAEs were strong even when the local elements were in unmatched locations across the two eyes during adaptation, as well as when the adapting stimulus elements were randomly oriented, and specified global motion via the intersection of constraints (Experiment 3). These results bolster the notion of eye-specific computation of 2D pattern motion (involving global pooling of local, eye-specific motion signals) for the purpose of computing 3D motion, and highlight the idea that classically “late” computations such as pattern motion can be done in a manner that retains information about the eye of origin.

Strategies for assembling columns and layers in the Drosophila visual system

A striking feature of neural circuit structure is the arrangement of neurons into regularly spaced ensembles (i.e. columns) and neural connections into parallel layers. These patterns of organization are thought to underlie precise synaptic connectivity and provide a basis for the parallel processing of information. In this article we discuss in detail specific findings that contribute to a framework for understanding how columns and layers are assembled in the Drosophila visual system, and discuss their broader implications.

Maximizing sensitivity for fast GABA edited spectroscopy in the visual cortex at 7 T

The combination of functional MRI (fMRI) and MRS is a promising approach to relate BOLD imaging to neuronal metabolism, especially at high field strength. However, typical scan times for GABA edited spectroscopy are of the order of 6-30 min, which is long compared with functional changes observed with fMRI. The aim of this study is to reduce scan time and increase GABA sensitivity for edited spectroscopy in the human visual cortex, by enlarging the volume of activated tissue in the primary visual cortex. A dedicated setup at 7 T for combined fMRI and GABA MRS is developed. This setup consists of a half volume multi-transmit coil with a large screen for visual cortex activation, two high density receive arrays and an optimized single-voxel MEGA-sLASER sequence with macromolecular suppression for signal acquisition. The coil setup performance as well as the GABA measurement speed, SNR, and stability were evaluated. A 2.2-fold gain of the average SNR for GABA detection was obtained, as compared with a conventional 7 T setup. This was achieved by increasing the viewing angle of the participant with respect to the visual stimulus, thereby activating almost the entire primary visual cortex, allowing larger spectroscopy measurement volumes and resulting in an improved GABA SNR. Fewer than 16 signal averages, lasting 1 min 23 s in total, were needed for the GABA fit method to become stable, as demonstrated in three participants. The stability of the measurement setup was sufficient to detect GABA with an accuracy of 5%, as determined with a GABA phantom. In vivo, larger variations in GABA concentration are found: 14-25%. Overall, the results bring functional GABA detections at a temporal resolution closer to the physiological time scale of BOLD cortex activation.

Universal transition from unstructured to structured neural maps

Neurons sharing similar features are often selectively connected with a higher probability and should be located in close vicinity to save wiring. Selective connectivity has, therefore, been proposed to be the cause for spatial organization in cortical maps. Interestingly, orientation preference (OP) maps in the visual cortex are found in carnivores, ungulates, and primates but are not found in rodents, indicating fundamental differences in selective connectivity that seem unexpected for closely related species. Here, we investigate this finding by using multidimensional scaling to predict the locations of neurons based on minimizing wiring costs for any given connectivity. Our model shows a transition from an unstructured salt-and-pepper organization to a pinwheel arrangement when increasing the number of neurons, even without changing the selectivity of the connections. Increasing neuronal numbers also leads to the emergence of layers, retinotopy, or ocular dominance columns for the selective connectivity corresponding to each arrangement. We further show that neuron numbers impact overall interconnectivity as the primary reason for the appearance of neural maps, which we link to a known phase transition in an Ising-like model from statistical mechanics. Finally, we curated biological data from the literature to show that neural maps appear as the number of neurons in visual cortex increases over a wide range of mammalian species. Our results provide a simple explanation for the existence of salt-and-pepper arrangements in rodents and pinwheel arrangements in the visual cortex of primates, carnivores, and ungulates without assuming differences in the general visual cortex architecture and connectivity.

Strabismic amblyopia disrupts the hemispheric asymmetry for spatial stimuli in cortical visual processing

Hemispheric asymmetry in processing visual stimuli was assessed in anisometropic and strabismic amblyopia and control subjects. Measurements of contrast sensitivity for low and high spatial frequencies were performed psychophysically and tested under functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using a stimulus configuration that generates measurements for each temporal and nasal hemifield. The fMRI and the psychophysics results showed a marked hemispheric asymmetry in processing spatial frequencies for normal and anisometropic adults, in which low spatial frequencies were mainly processed in the left visual field – right hemisphere (LVF-RH: 0.3 cycles per degree [cpd]; F = 12.548; p = .002) and the high spatial frequencies were predominating processed in the right visual field – left hemisphere (RVF-LH: 2.0 cpd; F = 4.582; p = .021 and 8.3 cpd; F = 8.561; p = .001). No asymmetry was present in the amblyopic and the fellow eye of the strabismic amblyopia subjects. We conclude that the developmental organization of visual cortex in strabismic amblyopia is impaired differently from what happens in the anisometropic amblyopia and support the impairment of high-level visual-related functions observed in strabismic children.

Towards large-scale, human-based, mesoscopic neurotechnologies

Direct human brain recordings have transformed the scope of neuroscience in the past decade. Progress has relied upon currently available neurophysiological approaches in the context of patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures for medical treatment. While this setting has provided precious opportunities for scientific research, it also has presented significant constraints on the development of new neurotechnologies. A major challenge now is how to achieve high-resolution spatiotemporal neural recordings at a large scale. By narrowing the gap between current approaches, new directions tailored to the mesoscopic (intermediate) scale of resolution may overcome the barriers towards safe and reliable human-based neurotechnology development, with major implications for advancing both basic research and clinical translation.

The marmoset monkey as a model for visual neuroscience

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) has been valuable as a primate model in biomedical research. Interest in this species has grown recently, in part due to the successful demonstration of transgenic marmosets. Here we examine the prospects of the marmoset model for visual neuroscience research, adopting a comparative framework to place the marmoset within a broader evolutionary context. The marmoset's small brain bears most of the organizational features of other primates, and its smooth surface offers practical advantages over the macaque for areal mapping, laminar electrode penetration, and two-photon and optical imaging. Behaviorally, marmosets are more limited at performing regimented psychophysical tasks, but do readily accept the head restraint that is necessary for accurate eye tracking and neurophysiology, and can perform simple discriminations. Their natural gaze behavior closely resembles that of other primates, with a tendency to focus on objects of social interest including faces. Their immaturity at birth and routine twinning also makes them ideal for the study of postnatal visual development. These experimental factors, together with the theoretical advantages inherent in comparing anatomy, physiology, and behavior across related species, make the marmoset an excellent model for visual neuroscience.

Experience-dependent central vision deficits: Neurobiology and visual acuity

Abnormal visual experience during childhood often leads to amblyopia, with strong links to binocular dysfunction that can include poor acuity in both eyes, especially in central vision. In animal models of amblyopia, the non-deprived eye is often considered normal and what limits binocular acuity. This leaves open the question whether monocular deprivation (MD) induces binocular dysfunction similar to what is found in amblyopia. In previous studies of MD cats, we found a loss of excitatory receptors restricted to the central visual field representation in visual cortex (V1), including both eyes' columns. This led us to ask two questions about the effects of MD: how quickly are receptors lost in V1? and is there an impact on binocular acuity? We found that just a few hours of MD caused a rapid loss of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor proteins across all of V1. But after a few days of MD, there was recovery in the visual periphery, leaving a loss of AMPA receptors only in the central region of V1. We reared animals with early MD followed by a long period of binocular vision and found binocular acuity deficits that were greatest in the central visual field. Our results suggest that the greater binocular acuity deficits in the central visual field are driven in part by the long-term loss of AMPA receptors in the central region of V1.

Visual cortical areas of the mouse: comparison of parcellation and network structure with primates

Brains have evolved to optimize sensory processing. In primates, complex cognitive tasks must be executed and evolution led to the development of large brains with many cortical areas. Rodents do not accomplish cognitive tasks of the same level of complexity as primates and remain with small brains both in relative and absolute terms. But is a small brain necessarily a simple brain? In this review, several aspects of the visual cortical networks have been compared between rodents and primates. The visual system has been used as a model to evaluate the level of complexity of the cortical circuits at the anatomical and functional levels. The evolutionary constraints are first presented in order to appreciate the rules for the development of the brain and its underlying circuits. The organization of sensory pathways, with their parallel and cross-modal circuits, is also examined. Other features of brain networks, often considered as imposing constraints on the development of underlying circuitry, are also discussed and their effect on the complexity of the mouse and primate brain are inspected. In this review, we discuss the common features of cortical circuits in mice and primates and see how these can be useful in understanding visual processing in these animals.

Using knowledge of development to promote recovery of function after brain damage

Knowledge of normal development of brain-behavior relations plays an important role in understanding how the plasticity of the nervous system can be used to promote recovery of function following brain damage. Aspects of the other articles in this issue are used in justification of the value of such developmental knowledge. Also, the development of amblyopia and its remediation in adulthood is discussed as a model for developing other techniques for ensuring recovery of function after stroke. Although the articles in this issue establish an excellent context for improving actual recovery of function (rather than compensation for deficits), much still needs to be discovered about how we can use developmental knowledge, along with knowledge of the plasticity of the nervous system, to improve remediation techniques.

Color blobs in cortical areas V1 and V2 of the new world monkey Callithrix jacchus, revealed by non-differential optical imaging

Color vision is reserved to only few mammals, such as Old World monkeys and humans. Most Old World monkeys are trichromats. Among them, macaques were shown to exhibit functional domains of color-selectivity, in areas V1 and V2 of the visual cortex. Such color domains have not yet been shown in New World monkeys. In marmosets a sex-linked dichotomy results in dichromatic and trichromatic genotypes, rendering most male marmosets color-blind. Here we used trichromatic female marmosets to examine the intrinsic signal response in V1 and V2 to chromatic and achromatic stimuli, using optical imaging. To activate the subsystems individually, we used spatially homogeneous isoluminant color opponent (red/green, blue/yellow) and hue versus achromatic flicker (red/gray, green/gray, blue/gray, yellow/gray), as well as achromatic luminance flicker. In contrast to previous optical imaging studies in marmosets, we find clearly segregated color domains, similar to those seen in macaques. Red/green and red/gray flicker were found to be the appropriate stimulus for revealing color domains in single-condition maps. Blue/gray and blue/yellow flicker stimuli resulted in faint patch-patterns. A recently described multimodal vessel mapping approach allowed for an accurate alignment of the functional and anatomical datasets. Color domains were tightly colocalized with cytochrome oxidase blobs in V1 and with thin stripes in V2. Thus, our findings are in accord with 2-Deoxy-D-glucose studies performed in V1 of macaques and studies on color representation in V2. Our results suggest a similar organization of early cortical color processing in trichromats of both Old World and New World monkeys.

Deletion of Ten-m3 induces the formation of eye dominance domains in mouse visual cortex

The visual system is characterized by precise retinotopic mapping of each eye, together with exquisitely matched binocular projections. In many species, the inputs that represent the eyes are segregated into ocular dominance columns in primary visual cortex (V1), whereas in rodents, this does not occur. Ten-m3, a member of the Ten-m/Odz/Teneurin family, regulates axonal guidance in the retinogeniculate pathway. Significantly, ipsilateral projections are expanded in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus and are not aligned with contralateral projections in Ten-m3 knockout (KO) mice. Here, we demonstrate the impact of altered retinogeniculate mapping on the organization and function of V1. Transneuronal tracing and c-fos immunohistochemistry demonstrate that the subcortical expansion of ipsilateral input is conveyed to V1 in Ten-m3 KOs: Ipsilateral inputs are widely distributed across V1 and are interdigitated with contralateral inputs into eye dominance domains. Segregation is confirmed by optical imaging of intrinsic signals. Single-unit recording shows ipsilateral, and contralateral inputs are mismatched at the level of single V1 neurons, and binocular stimulation leads to functional suppression of these cells. These findings indicate that the medial expansion of the binocular zone together with an interocular mismatch is sufficient to induce novel structural features, such as eye dominance domains in rodent visual cortex.

Multimodal vessel mapping for precise large area alignment of functional optical imaging data to neuroanatomical preparations in marmosets

Imaging technologies, such as intrinsic optical imaging (IOI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or multiphoton microscopy provide excellent opportunities to study the relationship between functional signals recorded from a cortical area and the underlying anatomical structure. This, in turn, requires accurate alignment of the recorded functional imaging data with histological datasets from the imaged tissue obtained after the functional experiment. This alignment is complicated by distortions of the tissue which naturally occur during histological treatment, and is particularly difficult to achieve over large cortical areas, such as primate visual areas. We present here a method that uses IOI vessel maps revealed in the time course of the intrinsic signal, in combination with vascular casts and vascular lumen labeling techniques together with a pseudo three dimensional (p3D) reconstruction of the tissue architecture in order to facilitate alignment of IOI data with posthoc histological datasets. We demonstrate that by such a multimodal vessel mapping approach, we are able to constitute a hook in anatomical-functional data alignment that enables the accurate assignment of functional signals over large cortical regions. As an example, we present precise alignments of IOI responses showing orientation selectivity of primate V1 with anatomical sections stained for cytochrome-oxidase-reactivity.

Imaging retinotopic maps in the human brain

A quarter-century ago visual neuroscientists had little information about the number and organization of retinotopic maps in human visual cortex. The advent of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a non-invasive, spatially-resolved technique for measuring brain activity, provided a wealth of data about human retinotopic maps. Just as there are differences amongst non-human primate maps, the human maps have their own unique properties. Many human maps can be measured reliably in individual subjects during experimental sessions lasting less than an hour. The efficiency of the measurements and the relatively large amplitude of functional MRI signals in visual cortex make it possible to develop quantitative models of functional responses within specific maps in individual subjects. During this last quarter-century, there has also been significant progress in measuring properties of the human brain at a range of length and time scales, including white matter pathways, macroscopic properties of gray and white matter, and cellular and molecular tissue properties. We hope the next 25years will see a great deal of work that aims to integrate these data by modeling the network of visual signals. We do not know what such theories will look like, but the characterization of human retinotopic maps from the last 25years is likely to be an important part of future ideas about visual computations.

Knowing with which eye we see: utrocular discrimination and eye-specific signals in human visual cortex

Neurophysiological and behavioral reports converge to suggest that monocular neurons in the primary visual cortex are biased toward low spatial frequencies, while binocular neurons favor high spatial frequencies. Here we tested this hypothesis with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Human participants viewed flickering gratings at one of two spatial frequencies presented to either the left or the right eye, and judged which of the two eyes was being stimulated (utrocular discrimination). Using multivoxel pattern analysis we found that local spatial patterns of signals in primary visual cortex (V1) allowed successful decoding of the eye-of-origin. Decoding was above chance for low but not high spatial frequencies, confirming the presence of a bias reported by animal studies in human visual cortex. Behaviorally, we found that reliable judgment of the eye-of-origin did not depend on spatial frequency. We further analyzed the mean response in visual cortex to our stimuli and revealed a weak difference between left and right eye stimulation. Our results are thus consistent with the interpretation that participants use overall levels of neural activity in visual cortex, perhaps arising due to local luminance differences, to judge the eye-of-origin. Taken together, we show that it is possible to decode eye-specific voxel pattern information in visual cortex but, at least in healthy participants with normal binocular vision, these patterns are unrelated to awareness of which eye is being stimulated.