Clustered functional domains for curves and corners in cortical area V4.
Clustered functional domains for curves and corners in cortical area V4.
复制标题
皮质区 V4 中曲线和拐角的聚集功能域
作者：
Jiang R;Andolina IM;Li M;Tang S
腹侧视觉通路在将低层次视觉特征整合到物体和场景的复杂表征中起着至关重要的作用。在腹侧视觉通路的中间阶段，V4在支持这种转变中起着至关重要的作用。许多V4神经元对曲线和角落等形状片段具有选择性;然而，目前尚不清楚这些神经元是否被组织成聚集的功能域，这是其他视觉皮层中常见的结构基序。使用双光子钙成像在清醒的猕猴，我们确认和本地化的皮质域选择性的曲线或角落在V4。单细胞分辨率成像证实，曲线或角落选择性神经元在空间上聚集成这样的域。当测试与六边形段的刺激，我们发现，刺激平滑度是V4曲线和角落的选择性之间的根本区别。结合皮层群体反应与单神经元分析，我们的研究结果表明，曲线和角落编码的神经元聚集成功能域在V4。这种功能特异的群体结构在腹侧通路的早期和晚期皮质之间架起了差距的桥梁，并可能有助于促进复杂物体的识别。
The ventral visual pathway is crucially involved in integrating low-level visual features into complex representations for objects and scenes. At an intermediate stage of the ventral visual pathway, V4 plays a crucial role in supporting this transformation. Many V4 neurons are selective for shape segments like curves and corners; however, it remains unclear whether these neurons are organized into clustered functional domains, a structural motif common across other visual cortices. Using two-photon calcium imaging in awake macaques, we confirmed and localized cortical domains selective for curves or corners in V4. Single-cell resolution imaging confirmed that curve- or corner-selective neurons were spatially clustered into such domains. When tested with hexagonal-segment stimuli, we find that stimulus smoothness is the cardinal difference between curve and corner selectivity in V4. Combining cortical population responses with single-neuron analysis, our results reveal that curves and corners are encoded by neurons clustered into functional domains in V4. This functionally specific population architecture bridges the gap between the early and late cortices of the ventral pathway and may serve to facilitate complex object recognition.