Correlation between the visual callosal connections and the retinotopic organization in striate-peristriate border region in the hamster: an anatomical and physiological study

The correlation between the retinotopic organization of receptive fields in the striate-peristriate border region and the distribution pattern of the visual callosal projections was investigated in hamsters with corpus callosum transected 2 days before recording. The results showed that in all the animals studied, the V1/V2 border defined by reversal of receptive fields at the vertical meridian was located in the dense central portion of the visual callosal projection which terminated in cortical regions bordering areas 17 and 18a. These results indicate that there is a close relationship between the striate-peristriate border determined by anatomical and physiological methods. In addition, these data strengthen the suggestion that the pattern of visual callosal projections is a useful and reliable reference system for delineating boundaries of different visual areas in the golden hamster.