Cortical magnification in human visual cortex parallels task performance around the visual field

Human vision has striking radial asymmetries, with performance on many tasks varying sharply with stimulus polar angle. Performance is generally better on the horizontal than vertical meridian, and on the lower than upper vertical meridian, and these asymmetries decrease gradually with deviation fro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2021-08, Vol.10
Main Authors: Benson, Noah C, Kupers, Eline R, Barbot, Antoine, Carrasco, Marisa, Winawer, Jonathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Asymmetry
Brain architecture
Brain Mapping
cortical magnification
Datasets
Female
fMRI
Horizontal cells
Humans
Male
Neuroscience
primary visual cortex
Retina
Retina - physiology
retinotopic maps
Task Performance and Analysis
Vision, Ocular - physiology
Visual cortex
Visual Cortex - physiology
Visual field
Visual Fields - physiology
visual performance asymmetries
Young Adult
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Description
Summary:Human vision has striking radial asymmetries, with performance on many tasks varying sharply with stimulus polar angle. Performance is generally better on the horizontal than vertical meridian, and on the lower than upper vertical meridian, and these asymmetries decrease gradually with deviation from the vertical meridian. Here, we report cortical magnification at a fine angular resolution around the visual field. This precision enables comparisons between cortical magnification and behavior, between cortical magnification and retinal cell densities, and between cortical magnification in twin pairs. We show that cortical magnification in the human primary visual cortex, measured in 163 subjects, varies substantially around the visual field, with a pattern similar to behavior. These radial asymmetries in the cortex are larger than those found in the retina, and they are correlated between monozygotic twin pairs. These findings indicate a tight link between cortical topography and behavior, and suggest that visual field asymmetries are partly heritable.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.67685