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Updated: Mar 3, 2026

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices
Published on: January 22, 2018
Objective analysis of the topological organization of the human cortical visual connectome suggests three visual
Koen V Haak1, Christian F Beckmann2
1Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The cortical visual system is composed of many areas serving various visual functions. In non-human primates, these are broadly organised into two distinct processing pathways: a ventral pathway for object recognition, and a dorsal pathway for action. In humans, recent theoretical proposals suggest the possible existence of additional pathways, but direct empirical evidence has yet to be presented. Here, we estimated the connectivity patterns between 22 human visual areas using resting-state functional MRI data of 470 individuals, leveraging the unprecedented data quantity and quality of the Human Connectome Project and a novel probabilistic atlas. An objective, data-driven analysis into the topological organisation of connectivity and subsequent quantitative confirmation revealed a highly significant triple dissociation between the retinotopic areas on the dorsal, ventral and lateral surfaces of the human occipital lobe. This suggests that the functional organisation of the human visual system involves not two but three cortical pathways.
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