Unraveling the mesoscale resting-state functional connectivity of ocular dominance columns in humans using...

Despite their importance for visual perception, functional connectivity between ocular dominance columns (ODCs) in the human primary visual cortex (V1) remains largely unknown. Using high-resolution functional MRI (fMRI), we localized ODCs and assessed their resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) in 12 human adults. Consistent with anatomical studies in animals, we found stronger rs-FC in the middle compared to deep and superficial cortical depths and selectively stronger rs-FC between ODCs with alike compared to unalike ocular polarity. Beyond what was known from animal models, and consistent with human perceptual biases, intra- and interhemispheric rs-FC was stronger in peripheral (compared to central) and in dorsal (compared to ventral) V1 subregions. Lastly, rs-FC patterns correlated with ODC maps, suggesting that ODC maps can be predicted from rs-FC patterns within V1. These results highlight the heterogeneity in rs-FC between ODCs across cortical depths and V1 subfields, underscoring their likely association with human perceptual features.