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The Organization of Visual Cortex in Primates

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Sensory Systems of Primates

Part of the book series: Advances in Primatology ((AIPR))

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to consider how visual cortex is subdivided and interconnected in primates. Subdividing neocortex has long been a problem for neuroscientists. It has been clear that for each sensory system the cortex contains a number of interrelated parts or areas, but it has been difficult to determine the exact number, location, and interconnections of the cortical areas of a system in any mammal. Differences in histological structure were first used to subdivide neocortex, but it was difficult or impossible to determine the significance of most of the areas so demarcated. Thus, Campbell (1905) parceled the neocortex of man into 20 distinct zones; Brodmann (1909) followed with 47, and C. and O. Vogt (1919) distinguished 200 fields. Later investigators postulated various numbers, with Lashley and Clark (1946) taking an extreme position and arguing that the cortex of man (or rat for that matter) contained no more than 7–10 subdivisions of functional significance. Later, considerable progress was made when the electrophysiological investigations of Woolsey, Adrian, and others established the primary and secondary sensory areas as detailed representations of sensory surfaces. More recently, microelectrode recordings have been used to determine the extent and boundaries of such sensory representations accurately and to relate these areas precisely to histological subdivisions of neocortex. In the more advanced brains, the sensory and motor areas, so clearly delimited by electrophysiological means, were found to constitute only a fraction of the total cortical surface. Much of the cortex, the so-called association cortex, was “silent” during recording and further subdivision was not possible. This condition has proven to be largely an artifact of the anesthetics popular at the time, and it is now clear that most of the cortex of higher primates responds to at least one modality. Furthermore, microelectrode recordings indicate that much of “association cortex” is subdivided into a number of separate areas, each of which contains a detailed map of a sensory surface such as the retina, skin, or cochlear partition.

...it is important to recognize the general concept that the cortex is by no means uniform in function and structure and is made up of a mosaic of different areas.... W. E. Le Gros Clark, 1959

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  1. Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, 37240, USA

    Jon H. Kaas

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  1. Department of Anatomy, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA

    Charles R. Noback

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Kaas, J.H. (1978). The Organization of Visual Cortex in Primates. In: Noback, C.R. (eds) Sensory Systems of Primates. Advances in Primatology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2484-3_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2484-3_7

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