Location and connections of visual cortical areas in the cat's suprasylvian sulcus

Abstract

The initial aim of the experiments described here was to identify and quantify the cortical and thalamic connections of visual cortical areas located in the vicinity of the suprasylvian sulcus. Inputs to various sites in this region were studied by making small injections of wheat germ agglutinin (conjugated to horseradish peroxidase) at physiologically identified locations. Retrogradely labeled cells were counted in each identifiable area of cortex and in thalamic nuclei. Some injections yielded quantitatively similar distributions of labeled cells, and it is suggested that such evidence provides a useful way of dividing the cortex into areas. By this criterion, a single, relatively large, cortical area was identified that occupied most of the medial bank of the suprasylvian sulcus, all or most of its posterior bank, and a small segment of its lateral bank. It was referred to as the Clare-Bishop area. Because neighboring visual areas were found to lack input from area 17, while the Clare-Bishop area received a strong striate input, its boundaries were investigated by labeling afferents from area 17. Together with the results of retrograde tracer injections, these data suggested that the Clare-Bishop area cuts across several of the visual areas defined physiologically by Tusa et al. ('81). As a consequence, its retinotopic organization must be relatively complex, with duplications of some parts of the visual field. Three other visual areas were tentatively identified on the basis of their distinctive connections. One was situated on the lateral bank of the suprasylvian sulcus and appeared to border the Clare-Bishop area laterally. Another, referred to as area 21, lay adjacent to area 19, and, for part of its length, also appeared to bound the Clare-Bishop area. The third, corresponding approximately to Heath and Jones's ('71) posterior suprasylvian region, lay lateral and anterior to the Clare-Bishop area in the depths of the posterior suprasylvian sulcus.