title: Stimulus selectivity and state dependence of activity in inferior temporal cortex of infant monkeys.
abstract: Inferior temporal cortex is necessary for visual object recognition in adult primates but is less critical in infants. Nonetheless, in macaques as young as 6 weeks old, inferior temporal neurons showed adult-like visual response properties, including form selectivity and bilateral receptive fields, indicating that extended maturation and visual experience may not be necessary for adult-like encoding of complex objects. However, before the animals were 4 months old, visual responsiveness was found in inferior temporal cortex only in awake monkeys performing a behavioral task and not in anesthetized ones, suggesting that extraretinal factors profoundly influence function in "association" cortex in developing as well as mature animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Princeton University, NJ 08544.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Rodman
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Skelly
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Gross
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields; D014796:Visual Perception