Organization of efferent neurons in area 19: the projection to extrastriate area 21a

The organization of efferent neurons in area 19 of the cat was examined by bulk injections of retrograde tracers, WGA-HRP and CTX-Au, into extrastriate area 21a. In one case, the cortex was cut coronally and retrogradely labeled cells in area 19 were present in columnar register throughout layers 2 to 6, with the majority of labeled cells in layers 2/3. The number of columns per tissue section ranged from 0 to 4 and had a centre-to-centre spacing ranging from 0.6 to 0.9 mm. A few lightly labeled cells were found between the columns. In six other cases, the visual cortex was flattened, and cut in the tangential plane to reveal a pattern of irregular, widely spaced bands that were elongated in the mediolateral direction with a mean centre-to-centre spacing of 2.6 mm. The density of labeled cells within these bands fluctuated such that dense aggregates of cells were found, on average, at 0.9 mm intervals along the bands. This tangential heterogeneity in density, along with the patchy columnar staining witnessed in the coronal plane, suggests that the widely spaced efferent projection bands may have a patchy substructure with a spacing of approximately 1 mm. The pattern of efferent projection bands and its substructure in area 19 is reminiscent of the stripe-like organization of V2 found in primates.