title: Columnar organization of spatial phase in visual cortex.
abstract: Images are processed in the primary visual cortex by neurons that encode different stimulus orientations and spatial phases. In primates and carnivores, neighboring cortical neurons share similar orientation preferences, but spatial phases were thought to be randomly distributed. We discovered a columnar organization for spatial phase in cats that shares similarities with the columnar organization for orientation. For both orientation and phase, the mean difference across vertically aligned neurons was less than one-fourth of a cycle. Cortical neurons showed threefold more diversity in phase than orientation preference; however, the average phase of local neuronal populations was similar through the depth of layer 4. We conclude that columnar organization for visual space is not only defined by the spatial location of the stimulus, but also by absolute phase. Taken together with previous findings, our results suggest that this phase-visuotopy is responsible for the emergence of orientation maps.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Yushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Jianzhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kremkow
authors.affiliation: Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lashgari
authors.affiliation: Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Stanley J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Komban
authors.affiliation: Graduate Center for Vision Research, State University of New York, College of Optometry, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Alonso
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*