Clustering of selectivity for optic flow in the ventral intraparietal area

Neuroreport. 2004 Aug 26;15(12):1941-5. doi: 10.1097/00001756-200408260-00022.

Abstract

The presence of a columnar or clustered organization for some property often denotes that this property is important to the local information processing in a cortical area. To determine whether self-motion is systematically organized in the ventral intraparietal area (VIP), we made long electrode penetrations, recording both multi-unit and single-unit tuning for horizontally varying heading stimuli at frequent intervals. Single units were well correlated with the tuning of multi-unit activity at the same location and multi-unit activity was more correlated with tuning at nearby locations than it was with tuning at locations beyond approximately 0.5 mm. From this, we conclude that heading information is represented in a clustered, and possibly columnar, fashion in VIP.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology*
  • Animals
  • Electrodes
  • Eye Movements
  • Female
  • Functional Laterality / physiology
  • Head / physiology*
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Orientation
  • Parietal Lobe / anatomy & histology
  • Parietal Lobe / physiology*
  • Visual Perception / physiology*