Shape discrimination deficits during reversible deactivation of area V4 in the macaque monkey

The role of area V4 in the primate extrastriate cortex has received much attention in recent years. However, the deficit specificity following area V4 ablations has been difficult to determine due to the ablations including area V4 and additional adjacent areas, deficit attenuation and the numerous variations in the results of different research teams. In order to address these issues, we examined the role of area V4 during reversible deactivation of the lower visual field representation within this area while macaque monkeys performed simple pattern discriminations and their eye position was monitored. Specifically, the monkeys were trained to perform a match-to-sample task with the sample stimulus placed within or outside the visual field quadrant represented within the deactivated region of area V4. The sample and match stimuli had the same salience (same size or luminance). Using this approach, we identified significant simple shape discrimination deficits during deactivation of area V4 that did not attenuate with time. Deficits were also identified when the discriminanda were the same figure viewed at different orientations (rotated shapes). In contrast, no deficits were identified during simple hue discriminations. Furthermore, no saccadic eye movement deficits were identified during deactivation of area V4. Therefore, we conclude that deactivation of area V4 yields specific deficits on simple and rotated shape discriminations. These results show that area V4 is an important step in shape and form processing along the ventral visual stream leading to the inferotemporal cortex.