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A theory of cortical map formation in the visual brain.
A theory of cortical map formation in the visual brain.
- Source :
-
Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2022 Apr 28; Vol. 13 (1), pp. 2303. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Apr 28. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- The cerebral cortex receives multiple afferents from the thalamus that segregate by stimulus modality forming cortical maps for each sense. In vision, the primary visual cortex maps the multiple dimensions of the visual stimulus in patterns that vary across species for reasons unknown. Here we introduce a general theory of cortical map formation, which proposes that map diversity emerges from species variations in the thalamic afferent density sampling sensory space. In the theory, increasing afferent sampling density enlarges the cortical domains representing the same visual point, allowing the segregation of afferents and cortical targets by multiple stimulus dimensions. We illustrate the theory with an afferent-density model that accurately replicates the maps of different species through afferent segregation followed by thalamocortical convergence pruned by visual experience. Because thalamocortical pathways use similar mechanisms for axon segregation and pruning, the theory may extend to other sensory areas of the mammalian brain.<br /> (© 2022. The Author(s).)
- Subjects :
- Animals
Axons
Cerebral Cortex
Mammals
Thalamus
Vision, Ocular
Visual Cortex
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2041-1723
- Volume :
- 13
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Nature communications
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 35484133
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29433-y