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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 10, 2026

How to Create and Use Binocular Rivalry

How to Create and Use Binocular Rivalry

Published on: November 10, 2010

Mesoscale developmental rivalry in the human extrastriate visual cortex.

Shahin Nasr^1,2, Jan Skerswetat^3,4, Bryan Kennedy¹

¹Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|July 8, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

In amblyopia, visual cortex modules compete: disparity-selective columns shrink, while motion- and color-selective areas expand, impacting visual processing development.

Keywords:

amblyopia development extrastriate visual cortex high-resolution fMRI mesoscale functional organization

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Visual Neuroscience
Developmental Neuroscience

Background:

The extrastriate visual cortex has specialized columns for motion, disparity, and color.
The developmental interactions between these functional modules are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the mesoscale organization of the extrastriate cortex in individuals with normal vision and amblyopia.
To understand the developmental interplay between motion, disparity, and color-selective cortical modules.

Main Methods:

High-resolution functional MRI (fMRI) was used to compare cortical organization.
Study included 16 individuals with normal vision and 15 participants with amblyopia (PwA) due to strabismus or anisometropia.

Main Results:

In controls, disparity-selective columns competed for cortical territory with motion- and color-selective columns.
In PwA, disparity-selective columns were smaller, while motion- and color-selective territories expanded.
Macroscale responses showed weaker disparity and stronger motion/color selectivity in PwA.

Conclusions:

Mesoscale modules in the visual cortex are developmentally competitive.
Intact visual functions can expand into cortical territory at the expense of compromised functions during development.