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Author Spotlight: Insights into Visual Cortex Research Through Wide-View fMRI Mapping
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Eye-centered visual receptive fields in the ventral intraparietal area.
Xiaodong Chen1, Gregory C DeAngelis2, Dora E Angelaki3
1Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri; and.
Journal of Neurophysiology
|May 3, 2014
Summary
The ventral intraparietal area (VIP) primarily uses eye-centered reference frames for visual processing, challenging previous notions of head-centered representations. This suggests spatial reference frames in VIP depend on visual stimuli and attention.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Sensory Processing
Background:
- The ventral intraparietal area (VIP) integrates multisensory information.
- Previous studies show conflicting reference frames (head-centered vs. eye-centered) for visual processing in VIP.
- These discrepancies may stem from differences in measured neuronal properties or visual stimuli used.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the spatial reference frames of visual receptive fields (RFs) in the VIP.
- To determine if VIP visual RFs are predominantly head-centered or eye-centered.
- To clarify how stimulus type and measurement conditions influence reference frame representation in VIP.
Main Methods:
- Quantitative mapping of visual RFs in VIP neurons using a large-field, multipatch, random-dot motion stimulus.
- Systematic variation of eye position relative to the head to test reference frame encoding.
- Classification of neuronal RFs as head-centered, eye-centered, or intermediate.
Main Results:
- The vast majority of VIP neurons exhibited eye-centered RFs.
- Only one VIP neuron was classified as head-centered.
- A small minority of neurons showed intermediate reference frames between eye- and head-centered.
Conclusions:
- Visual responses in VIP are predominantly represented in an eye-centered reference frame.
- The spatial reference frame of visual processing in VIP appears dependent on the specific visual stimulation conditions.
- Attentional allocation may also influence the reference frames observed in VIP visual responses.
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