Topographic organization of areas V3 and V4 and its relation to supra-areal organization of the primate visual system

Abstract

Areas V3 and V4 are commonly thought of as individual entities in the primate visual system, based on definition criteria such as their representation of visual space, connectivity, functional response properties, and relative anatomical location in cortex. Yet, large-scale functional and anatomical organization patterns not only emphasize distinctions within each area, but also links across visual cortex. Specifically, the visuotopic organization of V3 and V4 appears to be part of a larger, supra-areal organization, clustering these areas with early visual areas V1 and V2. In addition, connectivity patterns across visual cortex appear to vary within these areas as a function of their supra-areal eccentricity organization. This complicates the traditional view of these regions as individual functional “areas.” Here, we will review the criteria for defining areas V3 and V4 and will discuss functional and anatomical studies in humans and monkeys that emphasize the integration of individual visual areas into broad, supra-areal clusters that work in concert for a common computational goal. Specifically, we propose that the visuotopic organization of V3 and V4, which provides the criteria for differentiating these areas, also unifies these areas into the supra-areal organization of early visual cortex. We propose that V3 and V4 play a critical role in this supra-areal organization by filtering information about the visual environment along parallel pathways across higher-order cortex.

Retinotopic Organization of Scene Areas in Macaque Inferior Temporal Cortex

“…9 a ). As previously reported with imaging and single unit recordings ( Gattass et al, 1988 ; Arcaro et al, 2011 ; Arcaro and Kastner, 2015 ), there is an irregularity in the LVF representation of V3 near areas V3A and DP. The precise organization in this part of dorsal cortex in monkeys is still debated ( Lyon and Kaas, 2002 ; Rosa et al, 2013 ; Angelucci and Rosa, 2015 ; Jeffs et al, 2015 ; Kaas et al, 2015 ).…”

“…Anterior to these two maps within the collateral sulcus, two additional maps, PHC1 and PHC2, have been identified that mainly represent peripheral space and are selective for scenes versus other categories ( Arcaro et al, 2009 ). Many parallels in cortical organization have been proposed between humans and monkeys ( Van Essen et al, 2001 ; Orban et al, 2004 ; Arcaro and Kastner, 2015 ; Orban, 2016 ). We further evaluate the similarity of visual cortical organization between primate species by comparing the functional organization of medial ventral temporal.…”

A dual role for shape skeletons in human vision: perceptual organization and object recognition

“…Moreover, G-cells are thought to arise in the visual region directly following V2 (Craft et al, 2007;Martin & von der Heydt, 2015) which, in humans, is V3 but, in monkeys, is often delineated as V4 (DiCarlo et al, 2012;Gross, Rodman, Cochin, & Colombot, 1993;Serre et al, 2007). Studies have shown that V3 in humans is proportionally much larger than in monkeys and there is debate regarding whether monkeys have a human-like V3 at all (Arcaro & Kastner, 2015;but, see Brewer, Press, Logothetis, & Wandell, 2002). Most relevant here is the fact that few studies on perceptual organization with monkeys have recorded from V3.…”

Mapping the visual brain areas susceptible to phosphene induction through brain stimulation

“…These findings suggest that the spread of TMS-related neural activation at the target site through a network connected to early visual structures might underlie phosphene perception. Structural connectivity between V1 and V3d has been demonstrated in non-human primates (Felleman and Van Essen 1991; Markov et al 2014; Arcaro and Kastner 2015). In humans, strong functional connectivity between V1 and V3d during resting state fMRI suggests a similar anatomy (Heinzle et al 2011; Genc et al 2016).…”