Cortical Magnification in Human Visual Cortex Parallels Task Performance around the Visual Field

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cortical Magnification in Human Visual Cortex Parallels Task Performance around the Visual Field

AU - Benson, Noah C

AU - Kupers, Eline R

AU - Barbot, Antoine

AU - Carrasco, Marisa

AU - Winawer, Jonathan

N1 - © 2021, Benson et al.

PY - 2021/8

Y1 - 2021/8

N2 - Human vision has striking radial asymmetries, with performance on many tasks varying sharply with stimulus polar angle. Performance is generally better on the horizontal than vertical meridian, and on the lower than upper vertical meridian, and these asymmetries decrease gradually with deviation from the vertical meridian. Here we report cortical magnification at a fine angular resolution around the visual field. This precision enables comparisons between cortical magnification and behavior, between cortical magnification and retinal cell densities, and between cortical magnification in twin pairs. We show that cortical magnification in human primary visual cortex, measured in 163 subjects, varies substantially around the visual field, with a pattern similar to behavior. These radial asymmetries in cortex are larger than those found in the retina, and they are correlated between monozygotic twin pairs. These findings indicate a tight link between cortical topography and behavior, and suggest that visual field asymmetries are partly heritable.

AB - Human vision has striking radial asymmetries, with performance on many tasks varying sharply with stimulus polar angle. Performance is generally better on the horizontal than vertical meridian, and on the lower than upper vertical meridian, and these asymmetries decrease gradually with deviation from the vertical meridian. Here we report cortical magnification at a fine angular resolution around the visual field. This precision enables comparisons between cortical magnification and behavior, between cortical magnification and retinal cell densities, and between cortical magnification in twin pairs. We show that cortical magnification in human primary visual cortex, measured in 163 subjects, varies substantially around the visual field, with a pattern similar to behavior. These radial asymmetries in cortex are larger than those found in the retina, and they are correlated between monozygotic twin pairs. These findings indicate a tight link between cortical topography and behavior, and suggest that visual field asymmetries are partly heritable.

U2 - 10.7554/eLife.67685

DO - 10.7554/eLife.67685

M3 - Article

C2 - 34342581

SN - 2050-084X

VL - 10

JO - eLife

JF - eLife

M1 - e67685

ER -