A model for the thick, thin and pale stripe organization of primate V2

Models based on the idea of dimension reduction have been successful in describing the patterns of ocular dominance, spatial frequency and orientation preference found in primate V1. It is shown here that this approach can be extended to describe the organization of thick, thin and pale cytochrome oxidase stripes of primate V2 given an appropriately constructed stimulus space which includes a 3-valued variable which co-varies with color, orientation and disparity. The model successfully describes several aspects of V2 organization, including the fact that there are two pale stripes for each thick and thin stripe and the strong tendency for stripes to run perpendicular to the V1 border. In addition it predicts the presence of reversals in the direction of mapping of retinal eccentricity which should be more common in the pale stripes than elsewhere.