Crair M C, Ruthazer E S, Gillespie D C, Stryker M P
Department of Physiology, W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0444, USA.
J Neurophysiol. 1997 Jun;77(6):3381-5. doi: 10.1152/jn.1997.77.6.3381.
In the primary visual cortex of monkey and cat, ocular dominance and orientation are represented continuously and simultaneously, so that most neighboring neurons respond optimally to visual stimulation of the same eye and orientation. Maps of stimulus orientation are punctuated by singularities referred to as "pinwheel centers," around which all orientations are represented. Given that the orientation map is mostly continuous, orientation singularities are a mathematical necessity unless the map consists of perfectly parallel rows, and there is no evidence that the singularities play a role in normal function or development. We report here that in cats there is a strong tendency for peaks of ocular dominance to lie on the pinwheel center singularities of the orientation map. This relationship predicts but is not predicted by the tendencies, previously reported, for pinwheels to lie near the center lines of ocular dominance bands and for iso-orientation bands to cross ocular dominance boundaries at right angles. The coincidence of ocular dominance peaks with orientation singularities is likely to reflect a strong underlying functional link between the two visual cortical maps.
在猴子和猫的初级视觉皮层中，眼优势和方向是连续且同时呈现的，以至于大多数相邻神经元对同一眼睛和方向的视觉刺激反应最佳。刺激方向图由被称为“风车中心”的奇点间断分布，围绕这些奇点所有方向都有呈现。鉴于方向图大多是连续的，方向奇点是一种数学必然，除非该图由完全平行的行组成，且没有证据表明奇点在正常功能或发育中起作用。我们在此报告，在猫中，眼优势峰值强烈倾向于位于方向图的风车中心奇点上。这种关系预测了但并非由先前报道的趋势所预测，即风车倾向于位于眼优势带的中心线附近以及等方向带以直角穿过眼优势边界。眼优势峰值与方向奇点的重合很可能反映了这两个视觉皮层图之间强大的潜在功能联系。
