Afferent connections of the prelunate visual association cortex (areas V4 and DP)

Abstract

The afferent and efferent connections of the prelunate visual association area V4 of macaque monkeys were investigated by means of the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) method. The specific thalamic afferents from the dorsolateral segment of the medial pulvinar and the lateral segment of the inferior pulvinar were topographically organized. A band of cells was labelled in the intralaminar nuclei (nucl. centr. med. and lat., reaching into LD and the most dorsal part of VL), and a few cells in the interlaminar layers of the lateral geniculate body. Other diencephalic afferents included the claustrum, the nucleus basalis Meynert and the pars compacta of the substantia nigra. Ipsilateral cortical areas which projected into V4 included area 18 (V2), the inferior parietal cortex, the anterior and posterior parts of the superior temporal sulcus, the frontal eye fields and the temporo-basal association cortex on the lateral half of the parahippocampal gyrus and around the occipito-temporal sulcus. In the contralateral cortex, discontinuous regions in areas V4 and V5 on the prelunate gyrus and some cells at the 17/18-border were labelled. All regions in which labelled cells were found and, in addition a restricted region in the dorsal cap of the head and the tail of the caudate nucleus showed fibre and terminal labelling. In addition mesencephalic afferents and efferents were identified but not investigated in detail. An attempt to estimate the quantitative contribution of the various afferent systems to the prelunate cortex was made by counting the labelled cells in the different areas. The afferent and efferent organization of the prelunate visual association area indicates that it is incorporated in a network of cortical and subcortical regions involved in various aspects of visual behavior.