Neuron
Volume 109, Issue 16, 18 August 2021, Pages 2616-2626.e6
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Article
Retinotopic organization of visual cortex in human infants

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.004Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Retinotopic organization of striate and extrastriate visual areas in infancy

  • Spatial frequency sensitivity varies within and across infant visual areas

  • Weak developmental change from 5 to 23 months, suggesting early maturation

  • Possible to identify and interrogate functional regions of interest in human infants

Summary

Vision develops rapidly during infancy, yet how visual cortex is organized during this period is unclear. In particular, it is unknown whether functional maps that organize the mature adult visual cortex are present in the infant striate and extrastriate cortex. Here, we test the functional maturity of infant visual cortex by performing retinotopic mapping with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Infants aged 5–23 months had retinotopic maps, with alternating preferences for vertical and horizontal meridians indicating the boundaries of visual areas V1 to V4 and an orthogonal gradient of preferences from high to low spatial frequencies. The presence of multiple visual maps throughout visual cortex in infants indicates a greater maturity of extrastriate cortex than previously appreciated. The areas showed subtle age-related fine-tuning, suggesting that early maturation undergoes continued refinement. This early maturation of area boundaries and tuning may scaffold subsequent developmental changes.

Keywords

topographic mapping
child development
visual system
fMRI
ventral and dorsal streams
receptive fields
fovea and periphery
gray-white matter segmentation
functional regions of interest

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