视觉运动信息通常认为是在背侧通路处理。然而，处理颜色和形状的腹侧脑区同样存在相当数量的对运动敏感的神经元，如方向选择性神经元（DS神经元）。在某些区（如V4）占神经元总数的13－33％。如此数量的运动敏感神经元在腹侧通路中的作用尚不清楚。我们最近的研究首次发现了腹侧脑区V4区DS神经元的聚集和功能结构，提示DS神经元确实参与V4区运动信息的处理并提供功能意义。在此基础上，我们拟从以下三方面深入研究DS神经元在V4和整个腹侧通路中的功能意义：（1）应用光学成像技术研究DS神经元的分布及其与其他功能结构的关系；（2）采用电生理单细胞记录手段研究DS神经元的视觉反应特性；（3）利用形态学方法研究DS神经元在脑区内和跨脑区的形态学联接关系。通过以上系统研究，将揭示运动信息在V4区的处理机制和功能意义，为进一步理解背侧和腹侧通路的并行处理机制、认识运动信息处理的两种不同方式提供理论依据和新的思路。

It is believed that visual motion information is mainly processed in the dorsal stream, while form information is processed in the ventral pathway. However, ventral areas also contain many motion sensitive neurons, including neurons that are selective to the direction of motion (DS neurons). What are the functional roles these neurons play in the ventral stream is not clear. Our recent study revealed that there are functional clustering organization of DS neurons in ventral area V4. This finding strongly suggest that area V4, as a part of ventral stream, does involve in processing visual motion information. Here we propose to study the functional role of DS neurons in the ventral pathway, in following 3 aspects: (1) Study the functional distribution and functional organization of V4 DS neurons with optical imaging methods. (2) Study single neuron response properties of V4 DS neurons based on the optical imaging maps. (3) Study functional connections of DS neurons within V4 and projecting to/from other areas. Results from these studies will reveal how motion is processed in V4. These results will also help us re-evaluate the parallel processing in the ventral/dorsal pathways, as well as the different processes of motion information in the primate visual system.