Young M P
University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford University, UK.
Nature. 1992 Jul 9;358(6382):152-5. doi: 10.1038/358152a0.
The primate cortical visual system is composed of many structurally and functionally distinct areas, each receiving and sending about 10 projections from and to other cortical areas. The visual cortex is thus served by many cortico-cortical connections to form a network of considerable complexity. Thus the gross organization of this cortical processing system presents a formidable topological problem: although the spatial position of the areas in the brain is reasonably well established, the gross 'processing architecture' defined by the connections, is less well understood. Here I report an optimization approach that gives both qualitative and quantitative insight into the connectional topology of the primate cortical visual system. This approach supports suggestions that the system is divided into a dorsal 'stream' and a ventral 'stream' with limited cross-talk, that these two streams reconverge in the region of the principal sulcus (area 46) and in the superior temporal polysensory areas, that the system is hierarchically organized, and that the majority of the connections are from 'nearest-neighbour' and 'next-door-but-one' areas.
灵长类动物的皮层视觉系统由许多结构和功能各异的区域组成，每个区域与其他皮层区域之间都有大约10条投射连接，用于接收和发送信息。因此，视觉皮层通过众多的皮质-皮质连接形成了一个极为复杂的网络。这样一来，这个皮层处理系统的整体组织就呈现出一个棘手的拓扑问题：尽管大脑中各区域的空间位置已相当明确，但由连接所定义的整体“处理架构”却仍不太为人所理解。在此，我报告一种优化方法，它能在定性和定量方面为灵长类动物皮层视觉系统的连接拓扑提供深入见解。该方法支持以下观点：该系统被分为背侧“流”和腹侧“流”，二者之间的串扰有限；这两条流在中央沟区域（46区）和颞上多感觉区重新汇聚；该系统呈层级组织；并且大多数连接来自“相邻”和“隔一个”的区域。
