Topographic Representation Research Articles

Sub-millimeter fMRI reveals multiple topographical digit representations that form action maps in human motor cortex

The human brain coordinates a wide variety of motor activities. On a large scale, the cortical motor system is topographically organized such that neighboring body parts are represented by neighboring brain areas. This homunculus-like somatotopic organization along the central sulcus has been observed using neuroimaging for large body parts such as the face, hands and feet. However, on a finer scale, invasive electrical stimulation studies show deviations from this somatotopic organization that suggest an organizing principle based on motor actions rather than body part moved. It has not been clear how the action-map organization principle of the motor cortex in the mesoscopic (sub-millimeter) regime integrates into a body map organization principle on a macroscopic scale (cm). Here we developed and applied advanced mesoscopic (sub-millimeter) fMRI and analysis methodology to non-invasively investigate the functional organization topography across columnar and laminar structures in humans. Compared to previous methods, in this study, we could capture locally specific blood volume changes across entire brain regions along the cortical curvature. We find that individual fingers have multiple mirrored representations in the primary motor cortex depending on the movements they are involved in. We find that individual digits have cortical representations up to 3 ​mm apart from each other arranged in a column-like fashion. These representations are differentially engaged depending on whether the digits’ muscles are used for different motor actions such as flexion movements, like grasping a ball or retraction movements like releasing a ball. This research provides a starting point for non-invasive investigation of mesoscale topography across layers and columns of the human cortex and bridges the gap between invasive electrophysiological investigations and large coverage non-invasive neuroimaging.

Hand, foot and lip representations in primary sensorimotor cortex: a high-density electroencephalography study

The primary sensorimotor cortex plays a major role in the execution of movements of the contralateral side of the body. The topographic representation of different body parts within this brain region is commonly investigated through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, fMRI does not provide direct information about neuronal activity. In this study, we used high-density electroencephalography (hdEEG) to map the representations of hand, foot, and lip movements in the primary sensorimotor cortex, and to study their neural signatures. Specifically, we assessed the event-related desynchronization (ERD) in the cortical space. We found that the performance of hand, foot, and lip movements elicited an ERD in beta and gamma frequency bands. The primary regions showing significant beta- and gamma-band ERD for hand and foot movements, respectively, were consistent with previously reported using fMRI. We observed relatively weaker ERD for lip movements, which may be explained by the fact that less fine movement control was required. Overall, our study demonstrated that ERD based on hdEEG data can support the study of motor-related neural processes, with relatively high spatial resolution. An interesting avenue may be the use of hdEEG for deeper investigations into the pathophysiology of neuromotor disorders.

Body map proto-organization in newborn macaques

Topographic sensory maps are a prominent feature of the adult primate brain. Here, we asked whether topographic representations of the body are present at birth. Using functional MRI (fMRI), we find that the newborn somatomotor system, spanning frontoparietal cortex and subcortex, comprises multiple topographic representations of the body. The organization of these large-scale body maps was indistinguishable from those in older monkeys. Finer-scale differentiation of individual fingers increased over the first 2 y, suggesting that topographic representations are refined during early development. Last, we found that somatomotor representations were unchanged in 2 visually impaired monkeys who relied on touch for interacting with their environment, demonstrating that massive shifts in early sensory experience in an otherwise anatomically intact brain are insufficient for driving cross-modal plasticity. We propose that a topographic scaffolding is present at birth that both directs and constrains experience-driven modifications throughout somatosensory and motor systems.

A Depression-Based Index to Represent Topographic Control in Urban Pluvial Flooding

Extensive studies have highlighted the roles of rainfall, impervious surfaces, and drainage systems in urban pluvial flooding, whereas topographic control has received limited attention. This study proposes a depression-based index, the Topographic Control Index (TCI), to quantify the function of topography in urban pluvial flooding. The TCI of a depression is derived within its catchment, multiplying the catchment area with the slope, then dividing by the ponding volume of the depression. A case study is demonstrated in Guangzhou, China, using a 0.5 m-resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) acquired using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology. The results show that the TCI map matches well with flooding records, while the Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) cannot map the frequently flooded areas. The impact of DEM resolution on topographic representation and the stability of TCI values are further investigated. The original 0.5 m-resolution DEM is set as a baseline, and is resampled at resolutions 1, 2, 5, and 10 m. A 1 m resolution has the smallest TCI deviation from those of 0.5 m resolution, and gives the optimal results in terms of striking a balance between computational efficiency and precision of representation. Moreover, the uncertainty in TCI values is likely to increase for small depressions.

Synthesis of Hemispheric ITD Tuning from the Readout of a Neural Map: Commonalities of Proposed Coding Schemes in Birds and Mammals.

A major cue to infer sound direction is the difference in arrival time of the sound at the left and right ears, called interaural time difference (ITD). The neural coding of ITD and its similarity across species have been strongly debated. In the barn owl, an auditory specialist relying on sound localization to capture prey, ITDs within the physiological range determined by the head width are topographically represented at each frequency. The topographic representation suggests that sound direction may be inferred from the location of maximal neural activity within the map. Such topographical representation of ITD, however, is not evident in mammals. Instead, the preferred ITD of neurons in the mammalian brainstem often lies outside the physiological range and depends on the neuron's best frequency. Because of these disparities, it has been assumed that how spatial hearing is achieved in birds and mammals is fundamentally different. However, recent studies reveal ITD responses in the owl's forebrain and midbrain premotor area that are consistent with coding schemes proposed in mammals. Particularly, sound location in owls could be decoded from the relative firing rates of two broadly and inversely ITD-tuned channels. This evidence suggests that, at downstream stages, the code for ITD may not be qualitatively different across species. Thus, while experimental evidence continues to support the notion of differences in ITD representation across species and brain regions, the latest results indicate notable commonalities, suggesting that codes driving orienting behavior in mammals and birds may be comparable.

Brain oscillatory activity and CT perfusion in hyper-acute ischemic stroke

ObjectivesThe combined use of perfusion neuroimaging and brain oscillatory activity may provide a better clinical picture of neurovascular coupling of the injured area in ischemic stroke. The aim is to assess stroke-related topographic electroencephalography (EEG) changes during the earliest phase of ischemic stroke and to compare them with hypoperfusion identified by computer tomography perfusion (CTP). Patients and methodsThe study included 15 patients with ischemic stroke, who underwent both CTP and EEG recording within 4.5 h. Topographic representation of power for each band was calculated and compared with hypoperfusion areas estimated by CTP maps. ResultsPredominance of slow delta frequencies was found in all patients. The main finding is the agreement between slow rhythms hemispheric prevalence on EEG maps and cerebral hypoperfusion area identified using CTP. ConclusionThe results of this preliminary study show that the combined use of EEG and CTP, as highly available techniques, in acute ischemic stroke may be helpful in clinical practice and provide information about functional and metabolic aspects of brain involvement. The joint use of these methodologies may give a better clinical insight of the functionality of injured area in the hyperacute phase.

A sense of space in postrhinal cortex.

A topographic representation of local space is critical for navigation and spatial memory. In humans, topographic spatial learning relies upon the parahippocampal cortex, damage to which renders patients unable to navigate their surroundings or develop new spatial representations. Stable spatial signals have not yet been observed in its rat homolog, the postrhinal cortex. We recorded from single neurons in the rat postrhinal cortex whose firing reflects an animal's egocentric relationship to the geometric center of the local environment, as well as the animal's head direction in an allocentric reference frame. Combining these firing correlates revealed a population code for a stable topographic map of local space. This may form the basis for higher-order spatial maps such as those seen in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex.

Cell type specific impact of cannabinoid receptor signaling in somatosensory barrel map formation in mice.

Endocannabinoids and their receptors are highly abundant in the developing cerebral cortex and play major roles in early developmental processes, for example, neuronal proliferation, migration, and axonal guidance as well as postnatal plasticity. To investigate the role of the cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1) in the formation of sensory maps in the cerebral cortex, the topographic representation of the whiskers in the primary somatosensory cortex (barrel field) of adult mice with different cell type specific genetic deletion of CB1 was studied. A constitutive absence of CB1 (CB1-KO) significantly decreased the total area of the somatosensory cortical map, affecting barrel, and septal areas. Cell specific CB1 deletion in dorsal telencephalic glutamatergic neurons only (Glu-CB1-KO) or in both glutamatergic and forebrain GABAergic neurons (Glu/GABA-CB1-KO) resulted in an increased septa area in the barrel field map. No significant modifications in area parameters could be observed in GABA-CB1-KO mice. These data demonstrate that CB1 signaling especially in cortical glutamatergic neurons is essential for the development of topographic maps in the cerebral cortex.

PS1147 SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY IN CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKAEMIA ANALYSED BY WHOLE‐GENOME/EXOME SEQUENCING AT DIAGNOSIS

Background:Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) is characterised by the accumulation of neoplastic B cells in peripheral blood (PB), lymph nodes (LN) and bone marrow. CLL cells recirculate from PB to LN where the crosstalk with the microenvironment favours their maintenance and proliferation. Whole‐genome/exome sequencing (WGS/WES) studies focusing on samples from PB have described the mutational landscape of CLL uncovering a significant intra‐ and inter‐patient heterogeneity. However, the degree of spatial heterogeneity in CLL patients at diagnosis is largely unknown.Aims:We set up to dissect the spatial heterogeneity in fifteen CLL patients at diagnosis.Methods:Synchronous PB and LN DNA samples from fifteen CLL cases were analysed by WGS (n = 2) or WES (n = 13). Eight cases were IGHV mutated. Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and short insertions and deletions (indels) were extracted from WGS/WES. Copy number alterations (CNA) were analysed from sequencing data and compared to SNP6.0 arrays. Structural variants (SV) were assessed in the two cases with WGS. The subclonal architecture of the tumour in PB and LN was reconstructed to asses for differences in the topographic representation of clones.Results:The two cases studied by WGS had 3539 and 2087 mutations, and 98.7% and 95.1% of them were shared by the PB and LN in each patient, respectively. Both cases also shared all CNA and SV in both sites. More than 75% of the mutations identified were clonal and found in both compartments. However, we identified the presence of 3 subclonal populations in each patient. In the first patient, the three subclones were equally represented in PB and LN with a clear pattern of linear evolution. The second patient showed a branching evolution with differences in the representation of two subclones (115 and 287 specific mutations, respectively) found at 7% and 47% of cancer cell fraction (CCF) in PB and at 33% and 19% of CCF in LN, respectively. The WES of the 13 cases identified a total of 49 CNA and 789 coding, splice site or UTR mutations. CNA were always shared at similar CCF between PB and LN in all cases. Regarding gene mutations, 3 cases shared 100% of alterations between PB and LN, 9 cases shared 80–95% (mean 90.5%) mutations, and only one patient had a major diversity in PB and LN (only 57% shared in both sites). Location‐specific mutations were virtually always present in small subclones (CCF < 30%), none was recurrent, and only SETD2 was previously recognised as a CLL driver. Considering the subclonal representation of the shared mutations, 5 (38%) patients had marked differences between PB and LN. The main pattern observed in 4 cases was the presence of a larger subclone in the PB only representing a small subfraction in the LN. Mutated genes in these PB predominant subclones were RICTOR (involved in PI3K‐AKT‐mTOR pathway), DIAPH3 (correlated with cell growth and migration), NPAT (involved in cell cycle and related to CLL pathogenesis), STAT1 (related to CLL differentiation and growth) or EPHA7 (Ras/MAPK signalling). No topographic differences were observed for mutations in known driver genes such as NOTCH1, TP53, ATM, SF3B1, IRF4 and DDX3X.Summary/Conclusion:Most mutations are shared between PB and LN of CLL patients at diagnosis. However, a significant fraction of patients showed marked differences in the abundance of small subclones carrying mutations in genes related to cell growth, migration and BCR signalling between PB and LN. No major spatial diversification seems to occur in known CLL driver genes and CNA between PB and LN at diagnosis.

Neuronal Substrates for Infrared Contrast Enhancement and Motion Detection in Rattlesnakes

Pit vipers detect infrared (IR) radiation with loreal pit organs [1] that are connected to the hindbrain by trigeminal nerve fibers [2-4]. The pattern of central afferent termination forms a topographical representation of the sensory periphery within the nucleus of the lateral descending trigeminal tract (LTTD) [4-7]. All LTTD neurons project to another specialized, ipsilateral hindbrain area, the nucleus reticularis caloris (RC) [8-11], before IR signals are integrated with visual signals in the optic tectum [12, 13]. Pit-organ-innervating afferent fibers provoke in individual LTTD neurons a direct, robust spike activity upon peripheral activation [7, 14]. This discharge is truncated by an indirect, delayed synaptic inhibition from afferent fibers of adjacent sensory areas through parallel microcircuitry that converges with afferent fibers onto the same target neurons [7]. Here, we determined the impact of this interaction on IR contrast enhancement and/or motion detection in LTTD and RC neurons using isolated whole-brain preparations of rattlesnakes with intact pit organs. Simulated and real IR source motion provoked weak directional tuning of the discharge in LTTD neurons and RC neurons expressed a strong, motion-direction-differentiating activity. The hierarchically increasing motion sensitivity potentially derives from a direction-specific inhibition or spike frequency adaptation of LTTD neuronal discharge that becomes further pronounced by convergent projections onto individual RC neurons. The emerging signaling pattern complies with contrast enhancement (LTTD) and extraction of movement-related signals (RC), thereby forming a motion detection mechanism that encodes moving IR sources relative to the ambient temperature [14].

Universal features of mountain ridge networks on Earth

Compared to the heavily studied surface drainage systems, the mountain ridge systems have been a subject of less attention even on the empirical level, despite the fact that their structure is richer. To reduce this deficiency, we analyze different mountain ranges by means of a network approach and grasp some essential features of the ridge branching structure. We also employ a fractal analysis as it is especially suitable for describing properties of rough objects and surfaces. As our approach differs from typical analyses that are carried out in geophysics, we believe that it can initialize a research direction that will allow to shed more light on the processes that are responsible for landscape formation and will contribute to the network theory by indicating a need for the construction of new models of the network growth as no existing model can properly describe the ridge formation. We also believe that certain features of our study can offer help in the cartographic generalization. Specifically, we study structure of the ridge networks based on the empirical elevation data collected by SRTM. We consider mountain ranges from different geological periods and geographical locations. For each mountain range, we construct a simple topographic network representation (the ridge junctions are nodes) and a ridge representation (the ridges are nodes and the junctions are edges) and calculate the parameters characterizing their topology. We observe that the topographic networks inherit the fractal structure of the mountain ranges but do not show any other complex features. In contrast, the ridge networks, while lacking the proper fractality, reveal the power-law degree distributions with the exponent $1.6\le \beta \le 1.7$. By taking into account the fact that the analyzed mountains differ in many properties, these values seem to be universal for the earthly mountainous terrain.

Brain Complexity in Children with Mild and Severe Autism Spectrum Disorders: Analysis of Multiscale Entropy in EEG.

Multiscale entropy (MSE) model quantifies the complexity of brain functions by measuring the entropy across multiple time-scales. Although MSE model has been applied in children with Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in previous studies, they were limited to distinguish children with ASD from those normally developed without corresponding severity level of their autistic features. Therefore, we aims toexplore and to identify the MSE features and patterns in children with mild and severe ASD by using a high dense 64-channel array EEG system. Thisstudy is a cross-sectional study, where 36 children with ASD were recruited and classified into two groups: mild and severe ASD (18 children in each). Three calculated outcomes identified brain complexity of mild and severe ASD groups: averaged MSE values, MSE topographical cortical representation, and MSE curve plotting. Averaged MSE values of children with mild ASD were higher than averaged MSE value in children with severe ASD in right frontal (0.37 vs. 0.22, respectively, p=0.022), right parietal (0.31 vs. 0.13, respectively, p=0.017), left parietal (0.37 vs. 0.17, respectively, p=0.018), and central cortical area (0.36 vs. 0.21, respectively, p=0.026). In addition, children with mild ASD showed a clear and more increase in sample entropy values over increasing values of scale factors than children with severe ASD. Obtained data showed different brain complexity (MSE) features, values and topographical representations in children with mild ASD compared with those with severe ASD. As a result of this, MSE could serve as a sensitive method for identifying the severity level of ASD.

Towards a ‘Green Allopathy’: Biomedicalization and the Naturopathic Medicine Profession in Ontario, Canada

Different classes of primary afferents from semicircular canal and otolith organs project to the vestibular nuclei, but do not follow a topographic representation as seen for other sense organs. Second-order vestibular neurons give rise to different pathways that serve gaze and body stabilization during active and passive head motion or self-motion perception and spatial orientation. These projections originate in specific genetically determined hindbrain segments and are defined by their motor or premotor targets, an organization that appears to be preserved throughout vertebrate evolution.

Feeling a Touch to the Hand on the Foot

Where we perceive a touch putatively depends on topographic maps that code the touch's location on the skin [1] as well as its position in external space [2-5]. However, neither somatotopic nor external-spatial representations can account for atypical tactile percepts in some neurological patients and amputees; referral of touch to an absent or anaesthetized hand after stimulation of a foot [6, 7] or the contralateral hand [8-10] challenges the role of topographic representations when attributing touch to the limbs. Here, we show that even healthy adults systematically misattribute touch to other limbs. Participants received two tactile stimuli, each to a different limb-hand or foot-and reported which of all four limbs had been stimulated first. Hands and feet were either uncrossed or crossed to dissociate body-based and external-spatial representations [11-14]. Remarkably, participants regularly attributed the first touch to a limb that had received neither of the two stimuli. The erroneously reported, non-stimulated limb typically matched the correct limb with respect to limb type or body side. Touch was misattributed to non-stimulated limbs of the other limb type and body side only if they were placed at the correct limb's canonical (default) side of space. The touch's actual location in external space was irrelevant. These errors replicated across several contexts, and modeling linked them to incoming sensory evidence rather than to decision strategies. The results highlight the importance of the touched body part's identity and canonical location but challenge the role of external-spatial tactile representations when attributing touch to a limb.

Neural Maps of Interaural Time Difference in the American Alligator: A Stable Feature in Modern Archosaurs.

Detection of interaural time differences (ITDs) is crucial for sound localization in most vertebrates. The current view is that optimal computational strategies of ITD detection depend mainly on head size and available frequencies, although evolutionary history should also be taken into consideration. In archosaurs, which include birds and crocodiles, the brainstem nucleus laminaris (NL) developed into the critical structure for ITD detection. In birds, ITDs are mapped in an orderly array or place code, whereas in the mammalian medial superior olive, the analog of NL, maps are not found. As yet, in crocodilians, topographical representations have not been identified. However, nontopographic representations of ITD cannot be excluded due to different anatomical and ethological features of birds and crocodiles. Therefore, we measured ITD-dependent responses in the NL of anesthetized American alligators of either sex and identified the location of the recording sites by lesions made after recording. The measured extracellular field potentials, or neurophonics, were strongly ITD tuned, and their preferred ITDs correlated with the position in NL. As in birds, delay lines, which compensate for external time differences, formed maps of ITD. The broad distributions of best ITDs within narrow frequency bands were not consistent with an optimal coding model. We conclude that the available acoustic cues and the architecture of the acoustic system in early archosaurs led to a stable and similar organization in today's birds and crocodiles, although physical features, such as internally coupled ears, head size, or shape, and audible frequency range, vary among the two groups.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Interaural time difference (ITD) is an important cue for sound localization, and the optimal strategies for encoding ITD in neuronal populations are the subject of ongoing debate. We show that alligators form maps of ITD very similar to birds, suggesting that their common archosaur ancestor reached a stable coding solution different from mammals. Mammals and diapsids evolved tympanic hearing independently, and local optima can be reached in evolution that are not considered by global optimal coding models. Thus, the presence of ITD maps in the brainstem may reflect a local optimum in evolutionary development. Our results underline the importance of comparative animal studies and show that optimal models must be viewed in the light of evolutionary processes.

Two Compasses in the Central Complex of the Locust Brain.

Many migratory insects rely on a celestial compass for spatial orientation. Several features of the daytime sky, all generated by the sun, can be exploited for navigation. Two of these are the position of the sun and the pattern of polarized skylight. Neurons of the central complex (CX), a group of neuropils in the central brain of insects, have been shown to encode sky compass cues. In desert locusts, the CX holds a topographic, compass-like representation of the plane of polarized light (E-vector) presented from dorsal direction. In addition, these neurons also encode the azimuth of an unpolarized light spot, likely representing the sun. Here, we investigate whether, in addition to E-vector orientation, the solar azimuth is represented topographically in the CX. We recorded intracellularly from eight types of CX neuron while stimulating animals of either sex with polarized blue light from zenithal direction and an unpolarized green light spot rotating around the animal's head at different elevations. CX neurons did not code for elevation of the unpolarized light spot. However, two types of columnar neuron showed a linear correlation between innervated slice in the CX and azimuth tuning to the unpolarized green light spot, consistent with an internal compass representation of solar azimuth. Columnar outputs of the CX also showed a topographic representation of zenithal E-vector orientation, but the two compasses were not linked to each other. Combined stimulation with unpolarized green and polarized blue light suggested that the two compasses interact in a nonlinear way.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT In the brain of the desert locust, neurons sensitive to the plane of celestial polarization are arranged like a compass in the slices of the central complex (CX). These neurons, in addition, code for the horizontal direction of an unpolarized light cue possibly representing the sun. We show here that horizontal directions are, in addition to E-vector orientations from the dorsal direction, represented in a compass-like manner across the slices of the CX. However, the two compasses are not linked to each other, but rather seem to interact in a cell-specific, nonlinear way. Our study confirms the role of the CX in signaling heading directions and shows that different cues are used for this task.

The Organization and Connections of Second Somatosensory Cortex in the Agouti.

In order to understand how the mammalian sensory cortex has been structured during evolution, it is necessary to compare data from different species across distinct mammalian lineages. Here, we investigated the organization of the secondary somatosensory area (S2) in the agouti (Dasyprocta aguti), a medium-sized Amazonian rodent, using microelectrode mapping techniques and neurotracer injections. The topographic map obtained from multiunit electrophysiological recordings were correlated with both cytochrome oxidase (CO) histochemistry and with patterns of corticocortical connections in tangential sections. The electrophysiological mapping of the lateral strip of parietal cortex adjacent to the primary somatosensory area (S1) revealed that S2 displays a mirror-reversed topographical representation of S1, but with a smaller cortical magnification factor. The caudal border of S2 is surrounded by sensory fields which also respond to auditory stimulation. BDA injections into the forelimb representation of S2 revealed a dense homotopic ipsilateral projection to S1, supplemented by a less dense projection to the caudolateral cortex located near the rhinal sulcus (parietal rhinal area) and to a frontal region probably associated with the motor cortex. Our findings were similar to those described in other mammalian species, reinforcing the existence of a common plan of organization for S2 in the mammalian parietal cortex.

Punctures and Molecular Politics: Topographies of the Body in Iván Zulueta’s Arrebato (1979)

This article examines Iván Zulueta’s topographical representations of heroin consumption in Arrebato (1979), a cult-classic of Spanish cinema and pivotal work of the Movida madrileña. In the film, the injection of heroin is coupled with an external, visual effect on characters’ bodies—represented through colour, make-up, clothing and characters’ physiological responses—establishing a bidirectional flow between their subjective, molecular experience with drugs and their outward, physical appearances. By visualizing the effects of an illicit drug, Zulueta creates a superficial, or epidermic, lexicon for otherwise invisible corporeal experiences induced by drug use. Furthermore, by materially breaching the body with a syringe, injecting themselves with drugs and molecularly altering their subjectivities and identities at whim, the characters in Arrebato question the epistemological barrier between interiority and exteriority and challenge and evade fixed delineations of the body and of identity as defined by social legislation of the time. As such, the punctured and porous bodies in Arrebato, like those in similar works by maldito artists of the Movida, can be read, topographically, as an affront to social order and established systems of (bio)power in post-Franco Spain.

The medieval revival and historical topographic representations in The Byzantine monuments of Serbia

The work of Felix Kanitz titled Serbiens byzantinische Monumente. Gezeichnet und beschrieben von F. Kanitz [The Byzantine Monuments of Serbia. Drawn and Described by F. Kanitz] published in German and Serbian in 1862 has never been subjected to more detailed analysis from the perspective of art history. The need for the contextualization of illustrated books and their relation to the European culture of historicism, to nature and landscape, as well as their relationship with various artistic phenomena of the mid-nineteenth century, demands the placement of Kanitz?s book into the wider cultural framework of the epoch.

A new method for mapping spatial resolution in compound eyes suggests two visual streaks in fiddler crabs.

Visual systems play a vital role in guiding the behaviour of animals. Understanding the visual information animals are able to acquire is therefore key to understanding their visually mediated decision making. Compound eyes, the dominant eye type in arthropods, are inherently low-resolution structures. Their ability to resolve spatial detail depends on sampling resolution (interommatidial angle) and the quality of ommatidial optics. Current techniques for estimating interommatidial angles are difficult, and generally require in vivo measurements. Here, we present a new method for estimating interommatidial angles based on the detailed analysis of 3D micro-computed tomography images of fixed samples. Using custom-made MATLAB software, we determined the optical axes of individual ommatidia and projected these axes into the 3D space around the animal. The combined viewing directions of all ommatidia, estimated from geometrical optics, allowed us to estimate interommatidial angles and map the animal's sampling resolution across its entire visual field. The resulting topographic representations of visual acuity match very closely the previously published data obtained from both fiddler and grapsid crabs. However, the new method provides additional detail that was not previously detectable and reveals that fiddler crabs, rather than having a single horizontal visual streak as is common in flat-world inhabitants, probably have two parallel streaks located just above and below the visual horizon. A key advantage of our approach is that it can be used on appropriately preserved specimens, allowing the technique to be applied to animals such as deep-sea crustaceans that are inaccessible or unsuitable for in vivo approaches.