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Updated: Sep 24, 2026

The Gateway to the Brain: Dissecting the Primate Eye
Published on: May 27, 2009
A transient geniculo-extrastriate pathway in macaques? Implications for 'blindsight'
1Department of Psychology, Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
Abstract:
Both monkeys and cats receiving primary visual cortex lesions in infancy show better residual vision than animals sustaining similar damage in adulthood. In cats, the better recovery has been explained in part by stabilization of a transient pathway from the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) to cortical visual area PMLS. To test the hypothesis that a similar transient pathway from the dLGN to dorsal extrastriate areas exists in primates and thus serves as a candidate for recruitment after early V1 damage, retrograde tracers were injected into areas MT, MST, and/or 7a of infant macaques. No evidence of a transient pathway from the dLGN to these areas was obtained, despite projections from the pulvinar and other extrastriate areas in all cases.
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