Neuron
Volume 78, Issue 2, 24 April 2013, Pages 376-388
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Article
A Motion Direction Preference Map in Monkey V4

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.02.024Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • A map for direction of motion is discovered in area V4 of macaque monkeys

  • The majority of neurons inside V4 direction domains are directional selective

  • The V4 direction map has overlaps with V4 orientation and color maps

  • Areas in the ventral visual pathway may also involve in motion processing

Summary

In the primate visual system, area V4 is located in the ventral pathway and is traditionally thought to be involved in processing color and form information. However, little is known about its functional role in processing motion information. Using intrinsic signal optical imaging over large fields of view in V1, V2, and V4, we mapped the direction of motion responses in anesthetized macaques. We found that V4 contains direction-preferring domains that are preferentially activated by stimuli moving in one direction. These direction-preferring domains normally occupy several restricted regions of V4 and tend to overlap with orientation- and color-preferring domains. Single-cell recordings targeting these direction-preferring domains also showed a clustering, as well as a columnar organization of V4 direction-selective neurons. These data suggest that, in contrast to the classical view, motion information is also processed in ventral pathway regions such as area V4.

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These authors contributed equally to this work