The dorsomedial visual area of owl monkeys: connections, myeloarchitecture, and homologies in other primates.

Abstract

Cortical connections of the dorsomedial visual area (DM) of owl monkeys were revealed with injections of the bidirectional tracer, wheatgerm agglutinin conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP), or the retrograde fluorescent tracer, diamidino yellow. Microelectrode recordings in two cases identified DM as a systematic representation of the visual hemifield in a densely myelinated rectangle of cortex just rostral to the dorsomedial portion of the second visual area (V-II, or area 18). Cortex was flattened and cut parallel to the surface in all cases so that the myeloarchitectonic borders of DM and other areas such as the primary visual area (V-I or area 17), V-II or area 18, and the middle temporal visual area (MT) could be readily determined, and the surface view patterns of connections could be directly appreciated. The ipsilateral pattern of connections of DM were dense and visuotopically congruent with area 17, area 18, and MT, and moderate to dense connections were with the medial visual area (M), the rostral division of the dorsolateral visual area, the dorsointermediate area, the ventral posterior area, the caudal division of inferotemporal cortex (ITc), the ventral posterior parietal area, and visuomotor cortex of the frontal lobe. The connections of DM were concentrated in the cytochrome oxidase (CO)-dense blobs of area 17, the CO-dense bands of area 18, and the CO-dense regions of MT. Callosal connections of DM were with matched locations in DM in the opposite hemisphere, and with VPP. The ipsilateral connections of DM with area 17 were confirmed by injecting WGA-HRP into area 17 in one owl monkey. In addition to labelled cells and terminals in area 18 and MT, bidirectionally transported tracer was also apparent in DM. Evidence for the existence of DM in other primates was obtained by injecting area 17 and examining the areal patterns of connections and myeloarchitecture in three species of Old World monkeys, two additional species of New World monkeys, and prosimian galagos. In all of these primates, one of three major targets of area 17 was a densely myelinated zone of cortex just rostral to dorsomedial area 18, in the location of DM in owl monkeys. Thus, it seems likely that DM is a visual area common to all primates.